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ELKINS -- Four area representatives tackled a host of questions at the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce's Legislative Luncheon held at the Arts Center this week.
Republican District 11 Senators Robert Karnes and Bill Hamilton, and current District 43 Delegates Ty Nestor, a Republican, and Cody Thompson, a Democrat, took part in the event.
All four were asked questions by moderator Jennifer Griggs, who is the Supportive Services Program Manager for the Randolph County Housing Authority. One of Griggs' questions had to do with Senate Bill 4, which repealed the ban on Nuclear Power Plants in West Virginia.
Griggs asked the representatives why now was the time to repeal the ban after a similar effort failed in 2015.
Thompson said, "I supported that bill when it came through, but I initially was opposed or had some concerns and questions about it. Because with nuclear there is waste and it's not necessarily the cleanest, plus I had some concerns about possible meltdowns. So I was not on board initially, but I educated myself and talked to some of the other delegates about how the nuclear facilities are safer now.
"I'm supported by UMWA and I vote very favorably for coal, for coal miners and the coal industry. My father was a coal miner previously and in West Virginia we have been historically a very coal energy dominated state," he said. "The thing is that we are looking toward the future. There is nothing wrong with protecting and advocating for our coal miners and the coal industry, while also opening up to a broader energy infrastructure portfolio, including wind, solar, geothermal, hydro and nuclear. Having a more diversified portfolio I believe will be better for our state's economy as well as provide more jobs."
The question was then directed to Hamilton, who said the state needs to continue to provide coal and natural gas to the country, while at the same time creating a broader energy program.
"We need to have solar, wind and other types of energy," he said. "I think that one part that we left out of the puzzle was hydroelectric power. I think we need to look at everything to solve our energy issues.
"On a side note, we've got a mine here in Randolph County called Carter Roag and all the coal they mine goes to Ukraine," he said. "I don't want to see those miners lose their jobs because of this war and I hope it ends soon. They are slowly closing all the ports into Ukraine and that's going to stop the flow of coal that we are selling."
Next up to address the question was Nestor, who said he voted for the bill for a variety of reasons.
"Nuclear is the future, the cleanest energy there is," he said. "It's going to make energy cheaper. I hate what it might do to coal, I think that's far out in the future. However, I do believe that people that are coal miners, including coal mining and coal miners' families themselves, are going to experience a rate break and electricals will be lower because of the efficiency of the nuclear plant and the proximity to West Virginia.
"Also I will mention that the grid, the Nucor investment in the state is so significant and will probably require an energy source of that magnitude to make it work properly," he said. "I don't want to sandbag our economic investment in our state and I want to make sure we are aggressive in our policy and competitive with other states. That's how the game is being played now and we got to play at the highest level, which meant bringing nuclear to West Virginia."
Last to speak on the question was Karnes.
"For me it's more of a statement for those of you who are not totally familiar with legislation," he said. "There was a time in our history where some legislators wanted to make a statement and say nuclear energy wasn't welcome in West Virginia and they probably did that because they felt like that was supporting the coal industry.
"The statement that we all were trying to make is more of an all of the above. I've always been a strong supporter of the coal industry and my family in the coal industry, but I support natural gas, I support solar, I support hydroelectric, and obviously wind power," he said. "It's really more about whatever works for West Virginia, we want to bring that here and create jobs in that industry."