A.  This table shows the capacity of power plants in West Virginia, as of 2009 :

Energy Type	MW	Percent of Total
Coal	15,371.5	89%
Natural Gas	1205	7%
Wind	330	2%
Hydro	324.6	2%
TOTAL	17,231.1	100%

Q.  What fraction of the electricity generated in West Virginia from coal and natural gas is generated at power plants owned by West Virginia's utilities?

A.  About 40%

Q.  How about the wind farms?  Where does their power go?

A. The operating wind farms in West Virginia, Mountaineer and Mt. Storm, do not sell their power to West Virginia utilities.  The Beech Ridge wind farm will sell power to Appalachian Power.  Currently Appalachian Power sources all of its wind power purchases from wind farms in Illinois and Indiana.

Q.  What is the total amount of electricity generated in West Virginia?  How much electricity is consumed in WV?

A. In 2010, power plants in WV generated 79,000 GWh of electricity (excluding hydropower plants).  About 31,000 GWh were generated at power plants owned by our utilities.  WV utility customers used 30,000 GWh in 2009. 

Q. Where does the coal come from for West Virginia's coal plants?

A. This table shows the amount of coal delivered to West Virginia power plants under long-term contracts (represents about 94% of coal delivered to power plants) in 2010:

Source Region	Tons of Coal	Percent
WV	16,557,867	53%
Non-WV Appalachia	13,071,612	42%
Illinois	438,150	1%
West	790,490	3%
Colombia	241,148	1%

Q. How much have residential electricity rates increased in recent years for West Virginians?

A. The following table shows the  utility rate increases for West Virginians in different utility areas.

	Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power	Mon Power and Potomac Edison
Rates a few years ago	$4/month fixed charge 6.455 cents/kWh (under 500 kWh) 5.237 cents/kWh (over 500 kWh) Effective 7/1/2007	$4/month fixed charge 6.854 cents/kWh Effective 1/15/2008
Current Rates	$5/month fixed charge 9.604 cents/kWh (under 500 kWh) 8.394 cents/kWh (over 500 kWh)	$5/month fixed charge 9.088 cents/kWh
Percent Increase for customers using 1000 kWh/month	58%	32%

Q. Which of West Virginia's coal plants are most at-risk of retirement under new air pollution regulations?  How much capacity total?

A.  This table shows all coal plants in WV that are wholly or partially owned by WV utilities.  Coal plants that are old and infrequently used (low capacity factor) and lack pollution-control scrubbers are most at-risk of retirement.  Appalachian Power has already announced the retirement of some of its plants.  The highlighted plants are old, small plants without pollution control equipment (scrubbers) that are likely candidates for retirement.  They have a total capacity of 1.5 GW (about 20% of the total in-state coal capacity owned by WV utilities).

Plant Name	Unit Number	% Owned by WV utility	Capacity (MW)	Scrubber?	Age in 2011 (years)	2010 Capacity Factor	Planned Retirement Year
Harrison Power Station	1	20.54	684	yes	39	0.7
Harrison Power Station	2	20.54	684	yes	38	0.66
Harrison Power Station	3	20.54	684	yes	37	0.69
Pleasants Power Station	1	7.69	684	yes	32	0.66
Pleasants Power Station	2	7.69	684	yes	31	0.73
Grant Town Power Plant	1	100	95.7	?	19	0.60
John E Amos	1	100	816.3	yes	40	0.40
John E Amos	2	100	816.3	yes	39	0.56
John E Amos	3	100	1300	yes	38	0.75
Kanawha River	1	100	219.6	no	58	0.20	2018
Kanawha River	2	100	219.6	no	58	0.40	2018
Philip Sporn	1	100	152.5	no	61	0.50	2017
Philip Sporn	3	100	152.5	no	60	0.38	2017
Montaineer	1	100	1300	yes	31	0.71
Albright	1	100	69	no	59	0.14	2012
Allbright	2	100	69	no	59	0.19	2012
Albright	3	100	140.2	no	57	0.31	2012
Fort Martin Power Station	1	100	576	yes	44	0.65
Fort Martin Power Station	2	100	576	yes	43	0.61
Rivesville	5	100	35	no	68	0.00	2012
Rivesville	6	100	74.7	no	60	0.00	2012
Willow Island	1	100	50	no	62	0.13	2012
Willow Island	2	100	163.2	no	51	0.05	2012
Morgantown Energy Facility	1	100	68.9	?	20	?

Q. Where can I find more information?

A.        Energy Information Administration: www.eia.gov

                        Detailed information on power plants: www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/data.html

            American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy: www.aceee.org

                        Energy Efficiency Resource Standards: www.aceee.org/topics/eers

                        State Scorecard on energy efficiency: www.aceee.org/sector/state-policy/scorecard

                        Replacing coal with efficiency: www.aceee.org/white-paper/avoiding-a-train-wreck

            Pew Center on Climate Change's State Policy page: www.pewclimate.org/states-regions

            The Power Line: www.calhounpowerline.com

            Energy Efficient WV: www.eewv.org

            WV Public Service Commission: www.psc.state.wv.us

                        Search for cases: www.psc.state.wv.us/WebDocket/default.htm

Sources for this FAQ:

Energy Information Administration:

            Form 860 (power plant ownership data)

            Form 923 (power plant generation data)

            Form 423 (power plant coal contract data)

West Virginia Public Service Commission:

            Rate cases: 07-0930 (Allegheny Power); 07-0248 (Appalachian Power); 11-0174 (Appalachian      Power)

            Wind power purchase agreements: 07-1731; 07-1848; 08-1600; 09-0305

            Alternative and Renewable Portfolio Standard cases (reference current power consumption):

            10-1914 and 10-1912

Environmental Protection Agency National Electric Energy Data System version 4.10

            www.epa.gov/airmarkets/progsregs/epa-ipm/BaseCasev410.html

Mon Power and Potomac Edison current residential rates:             http://www.alleghenypower.com/Tariffs/WV/Wvpetariffs/wvpetariff.asp