CHARLESTON — State funding to support the Form Energy battery manufacturer in Weirton is moving toward a passage vote in the House of Delegates following a no-holds-barred debate.
The debate unfolded over about an hour Thursday after Delegate Pat McGeehan, a Republican who represents the Hancock County district bordering the development site, introduced an amendment that would have stripped $105 million in support for the project from a supplemental appropriations bill.
“This is a startup company, and I’m not sure it’s the correct role of state government to get into the business of some sort of — to speak informally — venture capitalist endeavor,” McGeehan said on the House floor.
McGeehan’s proposed amendment wound up being defeated, 70-25, but not before passionate discussion that sprawled over the role of public support for private projects, the demand for employment in West Virginia’s small towns, pride in the state’s coal-mining traditions, the philosophy of companies involved with energy transition and the potential of American manufacturing.
“The debate in this chamber today sends a message throughout this country,” said House Energy Committee Chair Bill Anderson, R-Wood, “and that message is: Is West Virginia willing to embrace the future while respecting the past?”
The debate over the funding divided the House’s Republican majority caucus. The House majority whip, Marty Gearheart, and a deputy majority whip, Chris Pritt, spoke in favor of stripping out the funding. The whip’s duties are normally to assess support for advancing legislation.
“I’m all-of-the-above when it comes to energy. We need to be supporting all forms of energy,” said Pritt, R-Kanawha. “What I oppose is this idea that we’re going to be providing some sort of subsidy to one or the other. And that’s effectively what we’re doing with this supplemental appropriation.
“There are forces in our country and our world that are trying to take down natural gas and coal and our resources right here in the state of West Virginia. It’s not a coincidence that they chose West Virginia for a project like this. These are forces that want to ensure that what has made West Virginia great is taken out.”
Form Energy expects to start construction of its Weirton factory in 2023 and begin manufacturing iron-air battery systems in 2024 for broad commercialization.
The company’s battery technology operates through a “reversible rusting” process. The battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to rust. When the battery charges, the reverse happens. An electrical current converts the rust back to iron, and the battery breathes out oxygen.
“The batteries they’ll make are for utilities. They’re huge,” said Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha. “These batteries will support the grid, so it’s about as patriotic as you can get in terms of what we need to do. It doesn’t end any coal job. You’re not voting against coal. What you’re voting for is 750 jobs in a town that has been wiped out when they lost their steel plant.”
Form Energy is putting up at least $350 million in private dollars to get the project off the ground at the site of the old Weirton Steel in Hancock County.
The total public support by the State of West Virginia for the project is $290 million, including the piece delegates are advancing.
The deal means West Virginia will own the building and land, and Form Energy will lease it back. The property would transfer to Form no sooner than five years and only if the company employs 750 workers. The deal calls for workers making at least $63,000 a year in average salary.
A passage vote on House Bill 2882, representing the $105 million in state funding to support Form Energy’s battery plant project, now lines up for today. The state Senate has not yet taken up the funding
measure.
“We support every possible way we can produce electricity in this state. We’re going to be a power in that one way or the other,” said Delegate Daniel Linville, R-Cabell. “This is another way to be a powerhouse, long into the future, for the next century.”
