The Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee met this afternoon and advanced Senate Bills 15, 118, 76, and 104.
SB 15 would protect coal and gas minerals from carbon capture practices. Under this bill, storage designs for coal and gas must be made to separate coal, oil, and natural gas from the carbon dioxide plume.
SB 118 would establish a Forest Carbon Registry under the administration of the West Virginia Division of Forestry. The Forest Carbon Registry will track properties that have agreed to have their carbon sequestered or taken away. This bill will have the West Virginia Division of Forestry record carbon agreements or projects on the registry.
SB 76Â would encourage and incentivize the sale of thermal or steam coal to coal-fired electric generating facilities located in West Virginia that serve West Virginia residents by exempting the sale of such coal from the severance tax.
Senators discussed SB 76 in detail, specifically asking about the impact it has on citizen power bills and if it will have an impact on coal production in the state. Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, answered these questions.
Hamilton said he would estimate that last year, 13.1 million tons of coal were produced and consumed by the state of West Virginia. He said that with this bill in place, this would result in an increase in production.
When asked by Sen. Rupie Philips (R – Logan, 07), “Would this help Mamaw’s power bill?”, Hamilton said this bill would result in lower costs of electricity bills for West Virginians.
Following the discussion of SB 76, the Senate advanced the bill to the full Senate.
SB 104 plans to provide state mine inspectors with a $4,000 raise.
