WVEC Weekly Round-Up

By Lucia Valentine and Kasey Russell, WVEC Lobbyists

This week marked the first full week of the 2025 legislative session, and the WVEC Lobby Team has been off to a busy start tracking bill progress, sharing our legislative priorities with legislators, attending committee meetings, and watching floor sessions for both the House of Delegates and the Senate. 

Here are a few items we followed this week: 

Energy

Orphan Wells

President Smith reintroduced SB 11, The Orphan Well Protection Act, in the Senate. This bill addresses WV’s orphan well crisis by requiring oil and gas well operators to set money aside for future plugging costs so taxpayers aren’t left footing the bill. Additionally, WV must pass legislation to fully qualify for the remaining $142 million federal well-plugging dollars. There are currently over 6,500 orphaned wells across the state of West Virginia. These orphaned wells threaten landowners’ rights, public health, and the environment, leaking gas and toxic chemicals that pollute air and water—an economic and ecological liability. The bill has been referred to the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee. 

Tax on Wind and Solar

SB 57 establishes a $3 tax per megawatt of electricity produced for sale or trade on producing electricity from wind and solar resources in West Virginia. This bill was introduced and taken up in the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee before passing and heading to the Senate floor. The committee heard arguments from Senator Jeffries, the WV Chamber of Commerce, the wind industry, lawmakers and other stakeholders who oppose the bill and defend WV’s “all above energy approach,” warning that its passage could jeopardize our economic development projects that involve wind and solar.

Clean Air and Water

Community Air Monitoring

Citizen air monitoring empowers local communities to enhance data collected by government bodies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the WV Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP). This collaboration fosters informed decision-making, advocacy for stronger air quality regulations, and community-led efforts to reduce pollution. We are educating lawmakers on the importance of supporting the ongoing use of this data to promote greater interaction between state agencies and the public.

Above Ground Storage Tank Act

In response to the 2014 chemical leak that left 300,000 West Virginians without safe drinking water, the West Virginia Legislature unanimously passed the Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) Act, designed to safeguard water sources used for drinking across the state. Over the past few legislative sessions, there have been attempts to further roll back regulations for tanks located in “Zones of Critical Concern” (ZCC), which includes over 700 tanks located closest to our drinking water intakes. We are working to educate lawmakers about the importance of upholding protections for tanks located in ZCCs. 

Public Lands

Timbering on State Parks

SB 224 potentially opens all WV public lands to widespread timbering and economic development for special interest projects. As written, the bill references the purpose of wildfire management. However, the WV Division of Forestry already has the tools to manage wildfires. 

If this bill passes, our state parks, Kanawha State Forest, and rail trails could lose protection against timbering. The purpose of Wildlife Management Areas could change from wildlife habitat and hunting to timbering.

SB 224 could also permit secret, noncompetitive bid contracts from out-of-state interests that threaten the beauty and value of our public lands. West Virginians know best how to protect our public lands’ not out-of-state companies seeking a profit. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources. 

Click here to check out our complete list of 2025 Legislative Priorities. 

To reach our lobby team, please email luciavalentine10@gmail.com and russell.kasey@gmail.com