WV geothermal temperature zones at 7.5 km depth (4.7 miles)

From an Article by David Beard, Dominion Post, April 9 & 10, 2022

WV-Department of Environmental Protection permitting issues discussed

The Dominion Post sent WV-DEP some questions relating to issues raised during the permitting process, including during a public hearing held in January. People were concerned about the vague reference to a data center in Marion Energy Partners’ application, and wondered why DEP’s DAQ didn’t demand more specifics.

DEP said, “The application Marion Energy Partners submitted only indicated they were planning to construct and operate a data processing facility consisting of four natural gas-fired engines to generate electric power for the facility. It did not indicate they were going to mine bitcoin.

Regardless, the application was for the emission sources – the four engines – which is the only aspect of this facility that the WVDEP’s DAQ can regulate. MEP is required to construct the facility in accordance with their permit application and meet the emission limits in the permit when they operate.”

DEP continued, “As mentioned, the DAQ’s jurisdiction begins and ends with the emission sources and it cannot regulate or permit a facility based on how it will use the electricity it generates. Please note that the DAQ has permitted several similar emission sources for facilities across the state, ranging from hospitals to government buildings.”

MEP/NNE will have to monitor its emissions from the site and provide the data to DAQ. The Dominion Post asked how DAQ will verify the data and hold MEP/NNE accountable.
DEP said, “MEP will have to perform stack testing within 180 days of startup and every three years or 8,760 hours of operation, whichever occurs first, and report the results to the DAQ. Stack testing is conducted by a third party contractor. MEP is required to obtain prior approval of a stack test protocol, and provide an opportunity for the agency to observe any required stack test.

“MEP is also required to maintain records of operation, and pollution control device parameters, and periodic fuel analysis. The company has to certify the accuracy of reported information. The DAQ will conduct periodic inspections. The facility is a minor source and is required to be inspected at least once every three years.

“The DAQ does not have staff on site when the facility starts up, however, the facility is required to notify the agency within 15 days of the startup of each engine. DAQ staff is notified of, and has the opportunity to observe, the initial stack test which is required to be conducted within 180 days of startup to confirm the facility is operating within permitted limits.

Regarding possible noise pollution, DEP said, “The DAQ has no jurisdiction over noise. Noise is an issue of local jurisdiction.”

The geothermal project promises to drill a deep exploratory (vertical) well

WVU announced its geothermal research project last August (watch for our Progress special section for a full story on the project). While most geothermal reservoirs are located in the western part of the country, WVU said, there is a “hot spot” below north-central West Virginia.

WVU was awarded a $7.5 million Department of Energy grant to drill an exploratory well at NNE’s industrial park site, where MSEEL is already underway. WVU Energy Institute Assistant Director Samuel Taylor told The Dominion Post this is an exploratory well to see what’s down there and what the potential is for future development.

The well will be a vertical bore – with no horizontal offshoot – going down about three miles. No energy will be produced from the well, he said.

Working Families supports alternative energy jobs

This Article from CBC News, The Canadian Press, December 22, 2017

The winds of change are pushing Mark Kokas in a new career direction. Nearly two years after being laid off as an electrician in Alberta’s flailing oil and gas sector, the 42-year-old is training to become a wind turbine technician.

“It is tough to find work right now. It’s not like it was before,” said Kokas in a class at Lethbridge College, one of two institutions in Western Canada that offers training and the only one with a one-year certificate program.

“Oil and gas used to be our bread and butter, but it isn’t anymore. There’s going to be a really hard push now to get people trained where the industry wants them to be,” he said. “It’s been an eye-opener going into a different industry. There’s more than oil and gas. It’s pretty cool.”

Inside the training tower used by the Lethbridge College Wind Turbine Technician program. The program warns potential students, “Those afraid of heights need not apply.” The one-year course to become a wind turbine technician comes with a warning label on the college website: “Those afraid of heights need not apply.”

“Most don’t have a warning label. We do. Our students end up working in an office 300 feet in the air, so obviously safety is a big priority,” said instructor Chris DeLisle. “We need to make sure you’re not scared of heights.”

DeLisle said that with the downturn in the oil and gas sector, alternative energy sources such as wind are a natural fit for many who are laid off. About four out of the 16 people in his class have worked in the oil sector in some capacity, he said. “With Alberta looking to kind of lead the rest of the country now into renewable energy, wind is … at the forefront, so it’s going to be around for a while.”

Instructor Chris DeLisle works with student Mark Kokas on a simulator during a class. Kokas was laid off nearly two years ago from his job as an electrician in Alberta’s oil and gas sector. Wind power is eliciting optimism at a time when Canada is trying to reduce its carbon footprint.

With their giant 80-metre-high turbines stretching as far as the eye can see and 45-metre-long blades turning gracefully in the breeze, wind farms in areas including southern Alberta are becoming more common.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association estimates that if Alberta were to use wind energy to fulfil a commitment to add 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2030, it would generate $8.3 billion in investment along with employment.

“I only wish I was laid off earlier, so I could have started earlier and I could already be working,” said Kokas. “There shouldn’t be an issue of getting a job at the end of this class.”

DeLisle said the course includes a lot of electrical training, as well as how to repair fibreglass windmill blades and learning the inner workings of the turbine itself.

Student Ryan Hanna, pictured with class dummy Rescue Randy, checks his safety equipment during a class at the Lethbridge College Wind Turbine Technician program. It also involves plenty of safety work using a life-sized dummy that DeLisle calls Rescue Randy. “Yeah, that’s one of our former students that didn’t make it through the program,” he said with a laugh. “We use him for all the different rescue scenarios. If somebody was to get hurt inside the hub, they need to bring them out and bring them to the ground. It’s a mock-up for rescues.”

Oscar Diaz-Kennedy has spent the last few years landscaping and working on construction projects. At 24, he said he can see which way the wind is blowing. “I’ve just seen how the world is going and how Alberta is changing from oilfields going to renewable energy,” Diaz-Kennedy said. “I decided I wanted to be ahead of the loop a little bit.”

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WV — JOBS, JOBS, JOBS — Panel Presentation on Renewable Energy & Jobs

Working Families — West Virginia — Thursday, January 3rd, 6:00 PM
Location: Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 152, 100 Richard Avenue, Morgantown

Panel Members — Evan Hansen, Delegate – Elect, WV Legislature
>> Doyle Tenney, DT Solar LLC, French Creek, WV
>> Shane Ferguson, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Major Job Losses in Renewable Energy if Current Tax Plan Passes

Source: Renewable Energy

From an Article by Steve Clemmer, Union of Concerned Scientists, December 14, 2017

In March 2017, I testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on how federal tax credits for renewable energy have been a key driver for the recent growth in the U.S. wind and solar industries, creating new jobs, income and tax revenues for local communities. They have also helped drive down the cost of wind and solar power by more than two-thirds since 2009, making renewable energy more affordable for consumers.

Originally enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, Congress has extended the Production Tax Credit (PTC) seven times and has allowed it to expire on six occasions. This “on-again/off-again” status resulted in a boom-bust cycle of development in the wind industry. In the years following expiration, installations dropped between 76 and 93 percent, with corresponding job losses. Congress has also extended the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar several times.

Finally, after many years of this policy uncertainty, Congress passed a five-year extension and phase-down of the PTC and the ITC for wind and solar in December 2015. The legislation also removed the longstanding U.S. oil export ban, as part of a compromise deal with the oil industry.

Unfortunately, the Senate and House tax bills would renege on this deal and change the rules midstream, resulting in major job losses across the U.S. renewable energy industry. They would also jeopardize tens of billions in investments in renewable energy projects and manufacturing facilities in rural communities across America—many of which are in districts and states held by Republicans and that voted for President Trump.

Senate Tax Bill Undermines Renewable Energy Financing

The renewable energy industry initially praised an earlier version of the Senate tax bill, which honored the 2015 deal and did not make any direct changes to the PTC and ITC. However, the Senate made two last-minute changes to the bill to fill revenue gaps and build support from key Republicans that were concerned about the deficit that would have a significant impact on renewable energy projects.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT): One of these last-minute changes was to restore the AMT to fill a $40 billion revenue gap. The proposal in both the Senate and House tax bills to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent would likely move most U.S. corporations from the regular corporate income tax rate to the AMT (which is also set at 20 percent on a broader tax base), according to tax experts.

However, not all tax credits count toward the AMT and depreciation must be calculated at a slower rate. While the ITC for solar projects can count toward the AMT, the PTC for wind projects (and geothermal, biomass, landfill gas and incremental hydro projects) can only count for the first 4 years out of the 10-year window that projects are eligible to receive the tax credits. Not only would this jeopardize investment in new projects, it would have a retroactive impact on existing projects placed in service after 2007 that are still receiving tax credits under the PTC.

Base-Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT): The Senate also made a last-minute change to the BEAT provision that could greatly reduce tax equity financing for renewable energy projects. BEAT would impose a tax on large corporations that make cross-border payments by requiring them to add those payments to their taxable income. This amount is then multiplied by 10 percent to determine what they owe to the government (except for banks and security dealers, which the Senate raised to 11 percent). These corporations must also calculate their regular tax liability minus any tax credits they receive, including the PTC and the ITC. If their adjusted tax liability is less than the fraction of their taxable income with the cross-border payments, the company would have to pay the difference to the IRS as a tax.

The more tax credits a company has, the more a company is likely to pay, making banks and other large tax equity investors reluctant to finance renewable energy projects. And like the AMT, the BEAT provision would not only impact financing for new projects but could have a retroactive effect on most existing projects that received tax equity financing.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) claims that the Senate bill could threaten $12 billion in annual tax equity financing in 2017, up from $7.3 billion in 2013 (see Figure). They estimate that tax equity financing accounted for 21 percent of the $58.5 billion in total U.S. renewable energy investment in 2016.

The Senate tax bill would have a big impact on companies like JPMorgan, Bank of America, GE, US Bank and Citigroup that led tax equity financing in 2016 for both wind and solar projects, as shown in this BNEF chart.

The BEAT provision would also hurt other energy sources that currently receive tax credits such as refined coal facilities placed in service by December 2011. The coal industry is also speaking out against the AMT, which Bob Murray claims will cost his company $50-60 million in increased taxes and eliminate 65,000 jobs.

House Bill Puts 60,000 Wind Industry Jobs and $50 Billion in New Investment at Risk

While the House bill does not include the AMT or BEAT provisions, it makes several direct changes to the PTC and ITC that would undermine investments in new wind and solar projects and have a retroactive impact on existing projects. These changes include:

• Eliminating the inflation adjustment for the PTC, reducing its value by 38 percent from 2.4 c/kWh under current law to 1.5 c/kWh.

• Changing the commence construction provision, dropping safe harbor provision, and requiring projects to have “continuous construction” to be eligible, which would greatly accelerate the PTC phase-down schedule. When combined with the change to the inflation adjustment, the American Wind Energy Association estimates these two provisions could reduce the value of the PTC by more than half.

• Allowing the permanent 10 percent solar ITC to sunset in 2027.

• Extending the tax credits to “orphan” technologies like geothermal, biopower, landfill gas, and incremental hydro that were largely left out of the 2015 deal to extend the tax credits for wind and solar for 5 years. This is the only positive change in the House bill.

The House bill would cut new wind development by more than half by 2020, according to both Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs. The American Wind Energy Association estimates that the House bill would put 30,000 MW of new wind projects that are under development in the U.S. worth $50 billion of new private investment at risk, along with 60,000 jobs, as shown in this map.

American Wind Energy Association, Protecting American wind workers during tax reform

Making Renewable Energy a Priority in Conference Committee

The provisions in the House bill that renege on Congress’ 2015 compromise deal with the oil industry and drastically cut the value of the PTC are completely unacceptable and should be dropped. The AMT and BEAT provisions in the Senate bill should either be dropped (they are not included in the House bill) or renewable energy tax credits should be excluded—similar to how R&D; tax credits are currently excluded from the BEAT provision.

House and Senate conferees were named last week. They will meet over the next two weeks to resolve key differences, with the goal of delivering a final bill to President Trump by the end of the year.

It is an ominous sign that Sen. Grassley (R-IA), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, was left off the conference committee. As the father of the PTC, who represents a state that ranks second in installed wind capacity, he has been outspoken about honoring the 2015 deal and working to fix the problems in the Senate and House tax bills. “The wind energy production tax credit is already being phased out under a compromise brokered in 2015. It shouldn’t be re-opened,” Grassley said.

Pro-renewables Senators like Grassley and Susan Collins (R-ME) will have a tough vote to make on the Senate floor if these damaging provisions are not addressed in conference. Maine, for example, has more than 900 MW of existing wind capacity and nearly 300 MW of new solar and wind under development that is potentially at risk.

But there are conferees who represent states with large renewable energy industries, and they are in unique position to make the changes necessary to keep that clean energy momentum going.

• Conferees like Sen. Thune and Rep. Noem from South Dakota, where a wind turbine blade manufacturer from Aberdeen just announced they will be closing and laying off more than 400 people, citing the federal tax bills as one of reasons for this decision. “It’s apparent that the new tax bill will cause some economic disruption and this is one of them,” according to Aberdeen Mayor Mike Levsen. “It’s what happens when government policies turn against industries. It discourages investment.” South Dakota also has 960 MW of wind projects currently under development, representing $1.6 billion in new investment, that is at risk.

• Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) has also said that fixing the BEAT and AMT provisions in the Senate bill will be “clear priorities” for lawmakers in conference

• Sen. Portman (R-OH) is from a state with a strong renewable energy supply chain, including 5,831 solar jobs at 189 companies and more than 2,000 jobs and 61 manufacturing facilities in the wind industry. Ohio also has 560 MW of new wind projects under development and $900 million in new investment that is at risk.

• Other conferees from leading renewable energy states such as Texas, California, Illinois, Washington and Oregon would also experience significant job losses.

The U.S. renewable energy industry has a proven track record of creating new jobs and making new investments in states and rural areas across America. Federal tax reform should encourage rather than discourage U.S. investment in this rapidly growing global industry.

Make sure your members of congress know clean energy is important to you. Tell them to fix the AMT and BEAT provisions, and to leave the renewable energy tax credits alone.

Steve Clemmer is the director of energy research and an expert on the economic and environmental benefits of implementing renewable energy technologies and policies.

What about WV's Integrated Resource Plans

Dear Friends in WV & elsewhere:

Help make sure West Virginia’s electric utilities put their customers first.

This year, our electric utilities will be writing long term plans, called Integrated Resource Plans, for how they will power West Virginia. The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) will issue its order for the utilities to begin drafting their plans by March 31st, helping to guide utilities long-term plans.

These plans could be written in secret in corporate backrooms and continue the status quo of polluting and increasingly expensive coal-fired electricity generation — or they can be written with public input to put increasingly affordable clean energy and energy efficiency front and center. Studies have shown that there are thousands of jobs to gain and hundreds of millions of dollars to save across West Virginia through strong energy efficiency programs, but we need to continue speaking out to make clean, efficient, affordable energy a reality in West Virginia. (Reference below.)

Write the Public Service Commissioners now to let them know that you want to them to issue an order for long-term energy plans that focuses on clean, affordable energy and public participation.

Send a message to the West Virginia PSC for long-term energy planning that focuses on clean, affordable energy and public participation.

As a life-long resident of West Virginia, having grown up in Beckley, I’ve seen firsthand the effects of collusion between big business and government officials when they are not held accountable to the people they serve and represent. Corporate interests have held back development in this state by clinging to outdated, polluting technologies. As a student of economics at West Virginia University and a state activist, I’ve made it my mission to promote a truly progressive path towards safe, clean, and efficient energy policy that will lead to prosperity for all West Virginians. Will you join me in speaking out for affordable and clean energy that puts the residents of West Virginia first?

Let Public Service Commissioners Michael Albert and Brooks McCabe know that you support an effective and consumer friendly Integrated Resource Plan — send your message today!

Together, we can make a difference in the decision making process and secure an environmentally and financially sound future for all of West Virginia. By working towards an effective Integrated Resource Plan, we will help to make this a reality.

Thanks for all you do to protect the environment,

Travis Boothe
Policy Team Leader, Energy Efficiency Campaign
West Virginia Sierra Club

Reference: Save Money, Create Jobs: How Energy Efficiency Can Work for West Virginia, Optimal Energy, November 2012

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Natural gas burns cleaner than coal, but West Virginia can do better when it comes to energy production.  Last October, researchers at Southern Methodist University, funded by Google, announced that West Virginia sits atop the major geothermal hot spot of the East Coast.  Take a look at the map to see how special that really is.  This hot spot is no small potatoes– if tapped it would be a power supply equivalent to the total amount of all current energy production in the state (which is largely coal-fired).  Read more on the WV Geologic Survey’s website…

This month, further SMU research confirmed and verified geothermal resources across the US which are capable of supporting large-scale commercial energy production.  West Virginia’s hotspot remains of strong interest.  Keep this in mind when you hear talk of energy independence.