“Hydropower has long been used in mountainous West Virginia, and the state’s first hydroelectric power plants were built around 1900. West Virginia’s largest hydroelectric facility, with more than 100 megawatts of capacity, was built in the 1930s, and the newest, with a capacity of 80 megawatts, began operating in 2001. Of the state’s utility-scale hydroelectric facilities, the industrial sector operates the largest share, followed closely by electric utilities and independent power producers. Hydroelectric power accounts for less than 2% of the state’s net electricity generation.”
