Contact Information: Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality 7012 MacCorkle Ave., S. E. Charleston, WV 25304 (304) 926-3731. Or view the Department's Website

	Relevant State Sites: West Virginia Public Service Commission West Virginia Air Emissions Regulations

	Major Utilities: Appalachian Power (AEP) Monongahela Power (Allegheny Power) Potomac Edison (Allegheny Power) Wheeling Power (AEP) Aquila

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	Specific Issues: EMISSIONS REGULATIONS GUIDE TO FEDERAL REGULATIONS STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS SITING REGULATIONS EXIT FEES STANDBY RATES BUILDING, ZONING AND FIRE CODES AMMONIA ISSUES REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ECONOMIC INCENTIVES

WEST VIRGINIA

Air Emissions Regulations |

Siting Regulations |

Regulatory Codes

SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UTILITY GENERATORS:

The jurisdiction of the commission shall extend to all public utilities in this state, and shall include any utility engaged in any of the following public services:

Common carriage of passengers or goods, whether by air, railroad, street railroad, motor or otherwise, by express or otherwise, by land, water or air, whether wholly or partly by land, water or air; transportation of oil, gas or water by pipeline; transportation of coal and its derivatives and all mixtures and combinations thereof with other substances by pipeline; sleeping car or parlor car services; transmission of messages by telephone, telegraph or radio; generation and transmission of electrical energy by hydroelectric or other utilities for service to the public, whether directly or through a distributing utility; supplying water, gas or electricity, by municipalities or others; sewer systems servicing twenty-five or more persons or firms other than the owner of the sewer systems; any public service district created under the provisions of article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of this code; toll bridges, wharves, ferries; solid waste facilities; and any other public service: Provided, That natural gas producers who provide natural gas service to not more than twenty-five residential customers are exempt from the jurisdiction of the commission with regard to the provisions of such residential service: Provided, however, That upon request of any of the customers of such natural gas producers, the commission may, upon good cause being shown, exercise such authority as the commission may deem appropriate over the operation, rates and charges of such producer and for such length of time as the commission may consider to be proper: Provided further, That the jurisdiction the commission may exercise over the rates and charges of municipally operated public utilities is limited to that authority granted the commission in section four-b of this article: And provided further, That the decision-making authority granted to the commission in sections four and four-a of this article shall, in respect to an application filed by a public service district, be delegated to a single hearing examiner appointed from the commission staff, which hearing examiner shall be authorized to carry out all decision-making duties assigned to the commission by said sections, and to issue orders having the full force and effect of orders of the commission.

The commission may, upon application, waive its jurisdiction and allow a utility operating in an adjoining state to provide service in West Virginia when:

(1) An area of West Virginia cannot be practicably and economically served by a utility licensed to operate within the state of West Virginia;

(2) Said area can be provided with utility service by a utility, which operates in a state adjoining West Virginia;

(3) The utility operating in the adjoining state is regulated by a regulatory agency or commission of the adjoining state; and

(4) The number of customers to be served is not substantial. The rates the out-of-state utility charges West Virginia customers shall be the same as the rate the utility is duly authorized to charge in the adjoining jurisdiction. The commission, in the case of any such utility, may revoke its waiver of jurisdiction for good cause.

(a) No public utility, person or corporation shall begin the construction of any plant, equipment, property or facility for furnishing to the public any of the services enumerated in section one, article two of this chapter, nor apply for, nor obtain any franchise, license or permit from any municipality or other governmental agency, except ordinary extensions of existing systems in the usual course of business, unless and until it shall obtain from the public service commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity requiring such construction, franchise, license or permit. Upon the filing of any application for such certificate, and after hearing, the commission may, in its discretion, issue or refuse to issue, or issue in part and refuse in part, such certificate of convenience and necessity: Provided, That the commission, after it gives proper notice and if no protest is received within thirty days after the notice is given, may waive formal hearing on the application. Notice shall be given by publication which shall state that a formal hearing may be waived in the absence of protest, made within thirty days, to the application. The notice shall be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code. The publication area shall be the proposed area of operation. Any public utility, person or corporation subject to the provisions of this section shall give the commission at least thirty days' notice of the filing of any such application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this section: Provided, That the commission may modify or waive the thirty-day notice requirement. The commission shall render its final decision on any application filed after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, under the provisions of this section or section eleven-a of this article within two hundred seventy days of the filing of the application and within ninety days after final submission of any such application for decision following a hearing: Provided, however, That if the projected total cost of the project is greater than fifty million dollars, the commission shall render its final decision on any such application filed under the provisions of this section or section eleven-a of this article within four hundred days of the filing of the application and within ninety days after final submission of any such application for decision after a hearing. If such decision is not rendered within the aforementioned two hundred seventy days, four hundred days or ninety days, the commission shall issue a certificate of convenience and necessity as applied for in the application. The commission shall prescribe such rules and regulations as it may deem proper for the enforcement of the provisions of this section; and, in establishing that public convenience and necessity do exist, the burden of proof shall be upon the applicant.

(b) Pursuant to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section the commission may issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity to any intrastate pipeline, interstate pipeline, or local distribution company for the transportation in intrastate commerce of natural gas used by any person for one or more uses, as defined, by rule, by the commission in the case of

(1) Natural gas sold by a producer, pipeline or other seller to such person; or
(2) Natural gas produced by such person. (http://129.71.164.29/wvcode_chap/wvcode_chapfrm.htm)