WHAT'S NEW:

No recent state activity has been identified.

AIR EMISSIONS REGULATIONS:

Air Quality Status	12 areas are in nonattainment with PM 2.5 standards. No areas are in nonattainment for ozone standards. EPA's Nonattainment Areas
Major Source Threshold	PTE 250 tons triggers PSD. PTE 100 tons of criteria pollutants in nonattainment areas triggers NSR.
Minor Source Permitting Exemption	PTE less than 10 tons per year and 6 lb/hr
Minor Source Treatment	PM and SO2 limits
Emergency Generating Limits	None

 

DE MINIMIS EXEMPTIONS

Sources that have a potential to emit less than 10 tons per year and 6 pounds per hour are exempt from permitting.

MINOR SOURCE PERMITTING

There are specific PM and SO2 requirements which vary depending on the heat input and location of the unit. There is also a 10% opacity limit. PM standards are based on the unit's heat input in MMBtu/hr. The SO2 requirement varies greatly among different locations. A source may be required to complete modeling of ambient impacts depending on the type and location of the source, but this is generally not required.

There is a 45-day public comment period and the entire permitting process can take up to 180 days, but is generally quicker. Permitting contact information can be found here.

MAJOR NSR/PSD PERMITTING

If the unit is located in a nonattainment area then a potential to emit 100 tons of SO2 or PM triggers NSR. A potential to emit 250 tons per year of a criteria pollutant triggers PSD in attainment areas.

TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY ENGINES

Two general permits were issued for emergency generators in February 2007. Permit G60-B address emergency generators at Title V (major) facilities and Permit G65-B Class I address pollution from minor source emergency generators. Permit forms can be found here.

Permit G60-B Emergency allows emergency generators to only operate for 500 hours per year. However, the regulations also state that emergency ICE can be operated for maintenance and readiness testing, and that “there is no time limit on the use on the use of emergency stationary ICE in emergency situations” Emergency stationary compression ignition (CI) internal combustion engines (ICE) with a displacement of greater than or equal to 30 liters per cylinder must meet the following emission limits –

• NOx: reduce emissions by 90% or more, or limit the emissions to 1.2 g/HP-hr
• PM: reduce emissions by 60% or more, or limit emissions to 0.11 g/HP-hr

Federal fuel requirements found in 40CFR §60 also apply. See the Class II G-60 B guidance document for more details.

Permit G65-B reiterates the 500 hours per year operating limit for emergency generators and excludes any emergency generator whose emissions exceed more than 6 lbs/hr and 10 tons/yr of NOx, CO, SO2, VOCs, and PM.

An emergency is defined in the West Virginia regulations as follows – “An ’emergency’ means any situation arising from sudden and reasonably unforeseeable events beyond the control of the source, including acts of God, which situation requires immediate corrective action to restore normal operation, and that causes the source to exceed a technology-based emission limitation under this Class I General Permit, due to unavoidable increases in emissions attributable to the emergency. An emergency shall not include noncompliance to the extent caused by improperly designed equipment, lack of preventative maintenance, careless or improper operation, or operator error.”

SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UTILITY GENERATORS:

Currently, everyone (public utilities, corporations, individual owners) has to apply for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity to begin the construction of any plant, equipment, property or facility. See the following state statutes for more information,

§24-2-1. Jurisdiction of commission; waiver of jurisdiction and §24-2-11. Requirements for certificate of public convenience and necessity .

BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES:

Building Codes: West Virginia enforces a statewide, mandatory State Building Code, which includes the 2003 IBC with some amendments.

Energy Codes : West Virginia enforces a statewide, mandatory State Building Code, which includes the 2003 IECC with some amendments.

• Division of Energy

Fire Codes: West Virginia enforces its State Fire Code, which is not based on a model fire code, but adopts the 2004/2005 versions of the NFPA Life Safety Code and other codes. This serves as a mandatory statewide minimum.

• State Fire Marshal

Zoning: Zoning and planning happens at the local level. Check with each jurisdiction regarding their zoning codes.

Resources (information may not be as current as provided above)

A general overview of each state’s enacted codes can be found HERE.

The International Code Council Adoption page gives state-by-state adoption status of specific ICC codes, as well as information about code adoption by some municipal governments within that state.

Information about energy codes can be found at the DOE’s Building Codes for Energy Efficiency page or at the Building Codes Assistance Project.

INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS:

The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) opened Docket No. 06-078-E-GI in October 2006, to address net metering, smart metering, and interconnection standards. The PSC did outline potential interconnection requirements such as having two levels of interconnection for systems up to 2 MVa. In the end, the Commission decided to only adopt the net metering requirements assessed in this docket. As a result, West Virginia has no statewide interconnection standards .

For more information contact the PSC.

West Virginia Public Service Commission
201 Brooks Street
P.O. Box 812
Charleston, WV 25323
Jim Ellars
Phone: (304) 340-0331
Fax: (304) 340-0325
E-Mail: jellars@psc.state.wv.us

EXIT FEES:

There is no statewide policy on exit fees in WV.

In the late 1990’s when West Virginia was considering a deregulation plan, the West Virginia Public Service Commission proposed a plan under Case No. 98-0452-E-GI. One of the principles listed in this case was that no exit fees be imposed on self-generators - “Current service offerings and alternatives must be maintained during the transition to competition; to the extent that competitive alternatives (e.g., self-generation) are available to customers today, those alternatives should continue to be available to the same extent that they are today, without imposition of any penalties, exit fees, or so-called non-bypassable charges.”

UTILITY STANDBY RATES:

West Virginia does not have a statewide policy on standby rates. Relevant provisions for West Virginia utilities are summarized below.

Appalachian Power Co - Schedule Cogen/SPP - standby service is provided to QFs that are 100 kW or under. For sites larger than 100 kW and individual contract must be established with the utility to define the standby service rates.

Schedule Cogeneration/Small Power Production (Cogen/SPP)
Load Size	Up to 100 kW
Delivery Charge ( Co. to Customer)	Most customers with a system greater than 10 kW shall be served under demand-metered rate schedules
Metering Charge	Additional time-of-day metering facilities must be paid by the customer as part of the local facilities charge, there are also monthly metering charges of – Single phase: $1.75 Polyphase: $2.05
Local Facilities Charge	Required to cover “interconnection costs” and will be “reasonably determined by the Company for each case and collected from the customer”
Energy Delivery (Customer to Co.)	For energy delivered to the Company: On-peak: $0.0343/kWh Off-peak: $0.0222/kWh