The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley The annual Legislative Luncheon hosted by the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber took place this week at the Arts Center in Elkins. Fielding questions at the event were, from left, Delegate Jonathan Kyle, state Senator Bill Hamilton and state Senator Robbie Morris.

ELKINS – Senators Robbie Morris and Bill Hamilton were joined by Delegate Jonathan Kyle at the annual Legislative Luncheon presented Thursday afternoon by the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce at the Arts Center.

The trio fielded an array of questions from Davis & Elkins College senior Sidney Megna, who is majoring in political science and English with a minor in pre-law. It was Megna’s second time moderating the event.

One of the main topics Megna asked the legislators to discuss was the future of energy in West Virginia.

Kyle, R-District 66, said, “West Virginia is one of the most energy-rich states in the country. Along with gas, coal and all the other things that we have, we want to make sure we continue to grow. Data centers are a hot topic right now and in order to have Data Centers and everything else, we have to have more energy. So we need to continue to focus on that.”

Kyle, a Mill Creek resident, currently serves on the House Government Organization Committee and is also on the Rule Making Review Committee.

Hamilton, who like Kye has filed to run for re-election alongside in the May 12 West Virginia Primary Election, was handed the microphone next.

“Coal is still king in West Virginia,” said Hamilton, who has represented District 11 since being elected to the seat in 2018. “We need to diversify our energy, oil and gas. It is especially important in my area and going west and north west, oil and gas is booming in those counties and doing really well.

“Locally, we lost the Carter Roag Coal Company, the only mining facility we had in Randolph County at the time, but I understand there are some people looking at the site but no decisions have been made yet.” 

Morris, R-11th District, was next to talk about energy in the Mountain State. Along with serving as a state senator, Morris is also the executive director of the Randolph County Development Authority and serves as chairman of the Corridor H Highway Authority. He is also chairman of the Senate Government Organization Committee.

“A major issue in the country right now is having enough power to handle our natural growth and consumption of data centers and everything else,” Morris said. “The governor (Patrick Morrisey) says he wants West Virginia to be the battery of this portion of the region and we have the ability to do it.

“We need additional development to do that, whether it’s natural gas, pipe lines or railroads. As far as Randolph County having an opportunity specifically for some of this growth, the problem with Randolph County is that we don’t have the natural gas necessary for power plant development underneath of us, so we need pipelines.

“So is that possible? Yes. Are there other areas other than a power plant that are a little easier? Yes. So we are going to look at those areas first,” Morris said. “However, we will still benefit because we have the Industrial Park adjacent to our current Industrial Park that we are developing.”

The luncheon was held in conjunction with the 2026 Leadership Randolph’s Government session. The event was sponsored by Performance Chevrolet and lunch was provided by A’La Board Plates & Platters.