CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia is directing the biggest electric utilities companies in the state to explain how they interact with the largest electric power grid in the United States.
According to the PSC, the order was sent to Appalachian Power Company, Wheeling Power Company and Monongahela Power Company (Mon Power) on Friday due to a new law regarding microgrids that was signed by West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey last month.
The PSC says the Mountain State is in the middle of a 13-state electric power interchange network called “PJM,” and that these three companies interact “in various ways” in the network’s program of buying and selling power on the PJM capacity market system designed to ensure the electric grid’s reliability. That system is called the Reliability Pricing Model (RPM).
According to the PSC, the goal of this order is to have the companies explain exactly how they interact with the PJM and its wholesale power capacity market, as under the new law the PSC is required to “to evaluate each PJM capacity auction and to encourage voluntary participation of electric generating units in the state.”
The companies must file their explanations with the PSC by Oct. 1, 2025.
The governor made a stop in Mason County on April 30 to sign House Bill 2014, also known as the Power Generation and Consumption Act, and House Bill 2002 into law.
The bills were created to attract businesses like Fidelis, which is set to construct a Monarch AI Data Center Campus in Mason County.
The Power Generation and Consumption Act was developed to create a certified microgrid program in the state. Morrisey’s office says that in expanding microgrid development, they can also further utilize West Virginia’s coal and natural gas resources. The governor says the goal is to, in turn, create funds that can lower income taxes, stabilize the state’s electric grid and fund further economic development.
House Bill 2002 was designed to create a “permitting dashboard” that will serve as a one-stop shop for businesses trying to obtain new or renew qualifying business permits. The governor says the hope is that streamlining permitting processes will help create more business in the state.
