In 2008, West Virginia had the lowest electricity prices in the country. By 2020, eleven other states had lower prices. In fact, over this period, electricity prices in West Virginia increased faster than in any other state in the nation. For the reasons described in Chapter 8, the blame for this development can be laid almost entirely at the failure of the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) to adopt policies that protected the interests of electric utility ratepayers.

But apart from the systemic failure, four decisions of the PSC during “the lost decade” stand out as being particularly irresponsible and costly for ratepayers: approval for West Virginia electric utilities to acquire four aging, inefficient coal plants that formerly were owned by their affiliated unregulated subsidiaries.