Virginia Supreme Court hears Wise County power plant case

An environmental group took its fight against a $1.8 billion coal-burning power plant in Wise County before the justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia this morning.

Caleb Jaffe of with The Southern Environmental Law Center told the high court that requirements the plant be located in Virginia’s Southwest Virginia coalfields and be able to burn Virginia coal violates the U.S. commerce clause by favoring one state’s coal over another’s.

“Once the plant is online, we’re stuck with it,“ said Jaffe.

Lawyers for the Virginia State Corporation Commisison, which approved the plant, and Dominion Virginia Power disagreed. The environmental law center must prove an effect on interstate commerce, said E. Duncan Getchell, representing the power company.

“They didn’t do that,“ he argued.

A decision in the case will be announced later.