House 4026

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4026

By Delegates  Street, Hillenbrand, Masters, Riley, Toney, Rohrbach, Willis, Holstein, Linville, Hornby, and Hott

[Introduced January 19, 2026; referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works]

A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to expanding the requirements for integrated resource plans utility companies must file with the Public Service Commission to include comprehensive analyses and descriptions and describe current and potential future uses of advanced transmission technologies that detail economic and technological feasibility, optimization, reliability, and resiliency, and list other technologies designed to increase and optimize efficiency, safety, reliability, resilience, and capacity.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.

§24-2-19. Integrated Resource Planning Required.

(a) Not later than March 31, 2015, the Public Service Commission shall issue an order directing any electric utility that does not have an existing requirement approved by the Public Service Commission that provides for the future review of both supply side and demand side resources to develop an initial integrated resource plan to be filed not later than January 1, 2016, in conjunction with other similar deadlines required by other states or entities of the electric utilities. This order may include guidelines for developing an integrated resource plan.

(b)(1) Any electric utility that has an existing requirement approved by the Public Service Commission that provides for the future review of both supply side and demand side resources is exempt from this initial integrated resource plan filing until such time as that existing requirement has been satisfied. Thereafter, such electric utility is required to file an integrated resource plan pursuant to §24-2-19(a) of this code.

(2) Each electric utility that has filed the initial integrated resource plan shall file an updated plan at least every five years after the initial integrated resource plan has been filed. Any electric utility that was exempt from filing an initial integrated resource plan shall file an integrated resource plan within five years of satisfying any existing requirement and at least every five years thereafter. All integrated resource plans shall comply with the provisions of any relevant order of the Public Service Commission establishing guidelines for the format and contents of updated and revised integrated resource plans.

(c) The Public Service Commission shall analyze and review an integrated resource plan. The Public Service Commission may request further information from the utility, as necessary. Nothing in this section affects the obligations of utilities to obtain otherwise applicable commission approvals.

(d) The Commission may consider both supply-side and demand-side resources when developing the requirements for the integrated resource plans. The plan shall compare projected peak demands with current and planned capacity resources in order to develop a portfolio of resources that represents a reasonable balance of cost and risk for the utility and its customers in meeting future demand for the provision of adequate and reliable service to its electric customers as specified by the Public Service Commission.

(e) The commission shall by order, entered no later than July 1, 2025, require all electric utilities operating in the state to supplement their existing integrated resource plans to include a detailed plant upgrade and maintenance plan, improvement compliance schedule, and cost estimate for ensuring the operation of each generating unit through their planned retirement date.  The supplemental integrated resource plan shall also include an analysis of the action necessary to extend the life of each generating unit beyond their planned retirement date. Subject to notice and comment from interested parties, the commission may approve the supplemental integrated resource plan without modification or require modification of the supplemental plan before it is approved. The commission shall promulgate rules requiring the supplementation of integrated resource plans as required by this provision. The rules shall also provide a procedure for utilities to submit an independent evaluation of any modification required by the commission hereunder or to challenge such required modification.

(f) In all such integrated resource plans filed, amended, supplemented, or revised after July 1, 2026, the Commission shall require the utilities to prepare a comprehensive analysis and description of its current and potential future use of advanced transmission technologies for electric transmission and distribution systems including economic feasibility, technical feasibility, potential benefits, and potential deployment timetables. Advanced transmission technologies means all forms of technology that increases the capacity, efficiency, reliability, resiliency, or safety of an existing or new electric transmission infrastructure including, without limitation: (1) advanced conductors that increase the power transfer capacity of transmission lines; (2) dynamic line rating that adjusts the rated capacity of transmission lines based on real-time conditions; (3) advanced power flow controls used to actively control the flow of electricity across transmission lines; (4) topology optimization that enables routing power flows around congestion points through transmission grid configurations; and (5) any other technologies designed to reduce transmission congestion and/or increase the capacity, efficiency, reliability, resiliency, or safety of an existing or new electric transmission facility.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require utility companies to expand the integrated resource plans filed with the Public Service Commission to include comprehensive analyses and descriptions and describe current and potential future uses of advanced transmission technologies that detail economic and technological feasibility, optimization, reliability, and resiliency, and list other technologies designed to increase and optimize efficiency, safety, reliability, resilience, and capacity.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.