by Bill

As I re-read the AP's story by Larry Messina in this morning's Charleston Gazette, I noticed that he referred to the Coalition for Reliable Power as "[a] group that advocates for West Virginia consumers."  Mr. Messina has clearly failed to read anything on the Coalition's Web site.  C4RP "advocates for" WV electricity producers, specifically those producers that produce electricity at or near where they use it.  That is why it is called the Coalition for Reliable Power, because the laws of physics prove that this is the most reliable way to run an electrical system.  Go to the C4RP site yourself and see what I mean.

In fact, if Mr. Messina had done much reading at all about C4RP, he would have come across our admonition for West Virginians to "stop thinking like consumers, start thinking like producers."

This is hardly "advocating for WV consumers."

This correction goes to the point of what is wrong with the discussion of rising electrical rates in WV.  Producers invest in new equipment to produce electricity realizing that high up front costs can lead to lower long term rates.  Consumers are only interested in the short term price that they have to pay.

To have a truly affordable and reliable electrical system, West Virginia needs far more people who think like producers, not consumers.  Our state also needs leadership that recognizes that the somewhat higher initial costs of installing small scale solar generating systems across our state is an investment that will pay dividends in reducing and eliminating skyrocketing fuel costs.