CHARLESTON — As a candidate for governor last year, then-attorney general Patrick Morrisey told attendees of the 2024 Governor’s Energy Summit he wanted to be known as an energy governor.

But during his first speech at this year’s summit as governor, Morrisey said the “economic renaissance” was underway.

“People are (investing in West Virginia) because they see West Virginia’s economic renaissance, and they know it’s a good place to invest,” Morrisey said. “They see the regulatory climate getting better and better and better.”

Thursday marked the second day of the 2025 Governor’s Energy Summit, organized by the state Office of Energy, at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. The annual event brings together state officials, lawmakers, representatives of the coal and natural gas industry, electric utilities and other stakeholders.

Among the highlights Thursday was an announcement by Bidell Gas Compression of a $7 million capital investment at its Weirton location, which will add an additional 80 jobs to the site thanks in part to a $1 million performance-based loan. The Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle also received a $3.2 million loan to purchase a 19,000-square-foot building on 10 acres in Weirton to lease to Bidell.

“Bidell has been proud to invest in West Virginia since 2016 and we’re truly excited to take this next step by expanding our footprint with this new facility,” said John Chisholm, plant manager at Bidell. “This growth represents more than just an investment in infrastructure. It’s an investment in the people and communities of West Virginia.”

Morrisey announced additional manufacturing investments in West Virginia, including a $400 million investment by Ergon for its Newell site which will create 25 new jobs. The company is partnering with the state’s new Powering Our Workforce through Energy and Revolutionary Technology program, which includes the state’s higher education institutions.

“I think this is a great example of what can happen when the business community and our state, local, and federal leaders … promote a very healthy business environment. It’s exciting,” said Kris Patrick, president and CEO of Ergon, which produces base oils used in a variety of industries.

During his remarks Thursday morning, Morrisey continued to outline his 50 by 50 generation plan to triple baseload electric capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050. He also announced several major private-sector energy investments totaling nearly $4.2 billion and promising more than 4,200 jobs.

“I am here to tell you that the work we’re doing, focusing on the fundamentals of improving West Virginia’s economy, is coming along and coming along well,” Morrisey said. “When we talk about our energy plan, we talk about the importance of base-load energy and building out coal and gas and nuclear. We have unlimited opportunity and possibility right here in West Virginia.”

Morrisey first announced his 50 by 50 plan in August during the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs and provided more details of the plan in Wheeling in September.

The plan focuses on easing regulatory hurdles for power producers in order to increase the state’s base load electric generating capacity from 16 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts in the next 25 years to meet the growing demand for electricity by AI programs and data centers in the PJM Interconnection grid, and to remain competitive with other nations, such as China..

“That’s going to be a blueprint for how we’re going to move power from point A to point B all across West Virginia, and ultimately, allowing West Virginia to serve as the battery of the east coast, providing the energy resources that PJM needs, but also that the country needs in order to compete with China for data supremacy,” Morrisey said.

Morrisey also promoted several economic development announcements related to energy that could add 1.9 gigawatts of energy towards Morrisey’s 50 by 50 plan. These projects include the recently announced $2.5 billion FirstEnergy natural gas power plant which includes an additional 70 megawatts of utility-scale solar power generation.

It is unclear where FirstEnergy would locate the plant, but it included information on its proposed natural gas power plant in its integrated resource plan filed with the state Public Service Commission earlier this fall. The proposed plant could result in more than 3,200 construction jobs.

“We’ve been working with FirstEnergy for a long time, and I’m really excited about this announcement because this represents a major step forward in terms of our energy development capacity,’ Morrisey said. “I want to thank FirstEnergy for its leadership and what it’s doing. This is incredible, and this is going to help drive 50 by 50.”

Another project Morrisey talked about Thursday was a partnership among Kindle Energy, GE Vernova, Blackstone and Wolf Summit Energy to invest $1.2 billion to build a 625-megawatt natural gas power plant in Harrison County, W.Va. The company claims it will be the first combined-cycle natural gas plant in the state, using natural gas to spin a gas turbine and funnel the exhaust into its own steam turbine.

“This investment is expected to create over 800 local construction jobs and also ignite additional local economic development,” said Bilal Khan, a senior managing director at Blackstone. “Energy powers our economy in West Virginia and throughout the country, and it’s critical that we meet the growing demand for electricity required to drive growth and innovation.”

“This project’s been under construction for about three months,’ said Lee Davis, CEO of Kindle Energy. “We were so excited, and I am completely grateful to the State of West Virginia for hosting us here and having an environment where this project can be successful.”