In a bid to boost the economy in Virginia’s coalfield
region, legislation to be signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe seeks to spur the
development of pumped storage hydro electric power plants using water from
abandoned coal mines.
While the companion bills in both the Senate and House of
Delegates drew virtually unanimous support from both chambers, researchers,
coal reclamation experts and even some renewable energy advocates say the idea
is still unproven. While pumped storage facilities exist in Virginia and
elsewhere, no plant drawing water from abandoned coal mines has been built
anywhere in the world.
