February 18, 2026 - The United Mine Workers of America and the coal industry are moving to block the expansion of natural gas-fired power plants in West Virginia.

UMW International President Brian Sanson fired the first shot Tuesday at the District 17 offices in Charleston, claiming new gas plants will cost West Virginia coal jobs and raise energy bills.

"West Virginians have been subsidizing the building of all these other energy sources throughout this entire country,” Sanson said. “Coal gets a bad rap on that, but the facts are that were paying for this infrastructure. We're paying for Google.”

Union leaders contend that if natural gas-fired power plants are built adjacent to existing coal facilities they'll end up costing thousands of jobs for West Virginia miners and power plant workers.

"If they build this natural gas plant up beside it, it will eventually displace Harrison County. You'll have 30-to-40 full-time employees doing the work that nearly 800 did before," Sanson added.

The Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia president-elect Rebecca McPhail claimed the union is lowballing its jobs impact.

McPhail said “16,000 direct jobs in the industry and tens of thousands of indirect jobs are part of our broader supply chain. I hate to see the Legislature not only draw a line in the sand when it comes to our energy future but also hurt the thousands of West Virginia landowners that benefit from more than $1 billion a year in the royalty payments that we provide here in the state. I don't think it has to be an either/or. It really does need to be both."

The Public Service Commission, looking at a 1,200-megawatt FirstEnergy MonPower/Potomac Edison gas-fired plant next to the Fort Martin Power Station could be another battleground.

The West Virginia Coal Association is expected to back the play of it's sometimes-opponent, the United Miner Workers.

Looking at severance taxes collected for fiscal 2025, natural gas topped coal.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey is pushing for more electric power in hopes of making West Virginia a data center and player in AI technologies.