| Opening Note
The Well is where conversations happen at the Capitol — where legislators, lobbyists, and staff compare notes, test the mood, and figure out what matters. This briefing is built the same way: a fast, disciplined read on what is moving in West Virginia government before the day begins.
Rotunda Roundup
West Virginia’s governing agenda is moving from headline commitments toward execution. A newly public federal-state nuclear agreement spells out substantial responsibilities for state permitting, land control, infrastructure and potentially legislative action; the Public Service Commission is forcing a timeline toward resolution of the troubled Black Diamond Power system; and the Department of Human Services has released a new statewide accounting of child deaths and near deaths caused by abuse or neglect. Meanwhile, House District 91 is drawing fresh political attention just one day before the Supreme Court hears a separate dispute over the appointment to that seat.
What Matters Today
Newly released nuclear-campus agreement puts permitting, land control and legislative authority on West Virginia’s side of the table.
A seven-page memorandum of understanding between West Virginia and the U.S. Department of Energy provides the clearest look yet at what the state could be asked to do if it advances as a location for a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus. The document contemplates state involvement in securing land for federal control, electricity and water infrastructure, expedited permits and rights-of-way, workforce development and, where necessary, seeking legislative authorizations or appropriations. The agreement does not constitute a final site selection or project award.
Why it Matters: What had been a broad economic-development opportunity now has a more concrete state-government roadmap, including potential decisions for regulators, lawmakers, higher education and infrastructure agencies.
What to Watch: Any site identification, DOE selection process, proposed state incentives or appropriations, and early permitting or infrastructure activity.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy | WV MetroNews
PSC gives Black Diamond Power and Appalachian Power 10 days to outline a possible utility-sale process.
The Public Service Commission used a Monday status hearing to push toward a resolution of its yearlong investigation into Black Diamond Power, directing the utility and Appalachian Power to report back within 10 days with a timeline for due diligence and a potential asset-purchase agreement. Black Diamond has opposed receivership, while Appalachian Power told regulators that Black Diamond owes it about $3.52 million under their wholesale-power arrangement. A separate entity, Black Diamond Utilities Inc., has also surfaced as a potential buyer.
Why it Matters: The PSC is moving the case from investigation toward a potential ownership solution with direct consequences for electric service, utility finances and customers in parts of Clay, Raleigh and Wyoming counties.
What to Watch: The 10-day filing, whether an asset sale becomes viable, the role of any third-party buyer and whether receivership remains an option.
Source: WV MetroNews | WV MetroNews — hearing details
First DoHS abuse-and-neglect fatality report finds 12 child deaths, 11 near deaths and extensive prior CPS contact.
The Department of Human Services’ Bureau for Social Services has released its first Child Fatalities and Near Fatalities Annual Report, covering federal fiscal 2025. It identified 12 deaths and 11 near-fatal injuries involving abuse or neglect; 83% of the families had some prior West Virginia Child Protective Services history, and drugs or alcohol were identified as a direct or contributing factor in 52% of the cases. More than half of the children involved were younger than 1, and 83% were younger than 5.
The report is distinct from the quarterly critical-incident report briefed last week and provides a broader annual baseline focused specifically on abuse or neglect causing, or nearly causing, a child’s death. DoHS says case reviews have resulted in policy, training, supervision and practice changes, including implementation of its SAFE practice model.
Why it Matters: The report supplies lawmakers and child-welfare officials with a new accountability measure for evaluating recurring CPS contact, substance-use risk and agency practice before the 2027 legislative session.
What to Watch: Implementation of corrective actions, future reporting on repeat CPS involvement and whether the findings drive additional legislative oversight or policy changes.
Source: WV News
House District 91 candidate Chris Clagett confirms authorship of social-media posts targeting Black women and Muslims.
Republican House candidate Chris Clagett confirmed during an Eastern Panhandle radio interview that he authored social-media posts containing derogatory comments about Black women and Muslims. Clagett said context mattered and acknowledged that one of the posts represented him poorly while defending other statements. Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin and House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle condemned the remarks; West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein declined comment when contacted by West Virginia Watch.
The political controversy comes as House District 91 is separately before the West Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday in litigation challenging Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s appointment to the seat. The two matters are distinct.
Why it Matters: The posts create a new campaign and House-leadership issue in a district already subject to an unusual and closely watched appointment dispute.
What to Watch: Additional responses from Republican legislative leaders and Tuesday’s separate Supreme Court argument over the District 91 appointment.
Source: West Virginia Watch
Rural Health Transformation dollars are moving into nursing capacity in Wheeling and Berkeley County.
The Morrisey administration announced a $291,403 Mountain State Care Force award to the WVU Medicine Center for Nursing Education to expand nursing enrollment and establish additional instructional capacity in Wheeling and Berkeley County. WVU Health System reports roughly 1,000 nursing vacancies across its facilities, making the award an early, concrete deployment of West Virginia’s broader Rural Health Transformation strategy.
Why it Matters: Workforce shortages remain one of the most immediate constraints on hospital capacity, and the award begins converting federal rural-health funding into a targeted workforce intervention.
What to Watch: Enrollment increases, additional Care Force awards and whether the state ties training investments to service commitments in shortage areas.
Source: Office of the Governor
Moundsville and Fort Gay wastewater projects put nearly $11.7 million of infrastructure work into motion.
The state announced a $4.43 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund commitment for Moundsville to repair leaking sewer lines and upgrade its wastewater plant after stormwater overloads contributed to untreated discharges into local waterways and the Ohio River. In Wayne County, the governor announced a $7.3 million Fort Gay wastewater rehabilitation plan built around proposed Appalachian Regional Commission funding and support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and West Virginia Water Development Authority; the project would include a new extended-aeration treatment plant serving roughly 356 customers.
Why it Matters: Both projects demonstrate how state and federal infrastructure programs are being used to address small-community systems where environmental compliance and basic service reliability increasingly overlap.
What to Watch: Final funding approvals for Fort Gay, construction schedules and whether either project becomes part of the Legislature’s broader 2027 water and sewer agenda.
Source: Governor’s Office release — Moundsville | Governor’s Office release — Fort Gay
State reports West Virginia tourism reached a record $9.4 billion economic impact in 2025.
State officials say West Virginia welcomed 78.4 million visitors in 2025, with local visitor spending reaching about $6.8 billion and total tourism economic impact reaching $9.4 billion. The announcement was paired with additional state-park investments, including upgrades at Twin Falls and plans for 32 upscale glamping sites at Pipestem, Blackwater Falls, Lost River and Summersville Lake state parks beginning in spring 2027.
Why it Matters: Tourism continues to be positioned as an economic-development sector, with the state pairing record performance claims with additional capital investment in public assets.
What to Watch: Delivery of the announced park projects, the new tourism secretary’s statewide outreach and whether 2026 visitor and spending figures sustain the trend.
Source: WTAP | WV MetroNews
McCuskey joins multistate push for federal scrutiny of Chinese-sourced ingredients used in compounded GLP-1 drugs.
Attorney General JB McCuskey joined 19 other state attorneys general in asking Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the National Security Council to investigate supply-chain and oversight concerns involving Chinese-sourced active pharmaceutical ingredients used in compounded semaglutide, tirzepatide and similar drugs. The coalition alleges gaps in federal oversight of some imported ingredients and is asking the federal government to examine both supply-chain security and enforcement practices.
Why it Matters: A federal response could affect compounding pharmacies, drug suppliers and patients relying on compounded GLP-1 medications, while giving state attorneys general another avenue into pharmaceutical-supply oversight.
What to Watch: Any response from the State Department, National Security Council or FDA, and whether McCuskey’s office pursues separate state-level consumer or pharmacy actions.
Source: Office of the West Virginia Attorney General
Chamber report puts West Virginia workforce participation at bottom nationally
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Campaign for Jobs Digest identifies workforce participation as one of the state’s most significant economic challenges. According to the Chamber, West Virginia’s labor-force participation rate stands at 54.5%, compared with a 62.5% national rate, and has fallen from 55.1% in 2024. Chamber Vice President Brian Dayton said the state’s civilian labor force declined by nearly 10,000 people between August 2025 and August 2026. The Chamber says West Virginia also carries the nation’s 11th-highest burden on businesses and is examining how the state compares with neighboring states on taxes, employment and other competitiveness measures.
Dayton pointed to manufacturing as an example of the state’s long-term economic challenge, saying West Virginia has fallen from roughly 130,000 manufacturing jobs in 1980 to about 47,000 today while neighboring Kentucky gained manufacturing employment over the same period. The Chamber says it intends to use the digest and comparisons with surrounding states to identify potential policy changes.
Why it Matters: The report gives business groups and lawmakers a fresh set of benchmarks likely to inform discussions over workforce development, taxation and economic competitiveness heading toward the 2027 legislative session.
What to Watch: Specific Chamber legislative recommendations aimed at increasing workforce participation and reducing what it identifies as competitive disadvantages relative to neighboring states.
Source: WV MetroNews | West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Capito secures federal funding to expand first-responder support through Lily’s Place
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito announced a fiscal 2026 Congressionally Directed Spending allocation for Huntington-based Lily’s Place to expand the COMPASS Program, which provides health and wellness support for first responders. The program currently serves Huntington police officers; the additional funding will expand eligibility to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, 911 dispatchers and their families throughout the Cabell County area.
The expanded program will provide mental-health services and spiritual care through a partnership between Lily’s Place and local first-responder agencies. Neither Capito’s announcement nor the WV News report specifies the amount of the new allocation.
Why it Matters: The federal allocation broadens an existing local program into a more comprehensive first-responder behavioral-health effort covering multiple emergency-service professions and their families.
What to Watch: Implementation of the expanded COMPASS program, participation by Cabell County first-responder agencies and whether similar programs are pursued elsewhere in West Virginia.
Source: WV News | Office of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito
Manchin returns to Congress as witness, urges action on $40 trillion national debt
Former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin returned to Capitol Hill on Monday, this time as a witness before the House Budget Committee, where he joined former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and former White House chief of staff and OMB Director Leon Panetta for a field hearing in Dallas examining whether Congress should establish a fiscal commission to confront the federal debt, which has surpassed $40 trillion. Manchin argued that existing congressional budget deadlines lack meaningful enforcement and pointed to Congress’ repeated failure to complete all 12 annual appropriations bills on time. The panel discussed creating a bipartisan fiscal commission of lawmakers and outside experts that could produce a deficit-reduction package for an up-or-down congressional vote. Manchin also argued that responsibility for the debt extends across party lines and urged members of Congress to address it more directly with voters.
Why it Matters: Manchin remains engaged in federal fiscal-policy debates after leaving the Senate, while the hearing highlights renewed congressional attention to debt, deficits and the long-term finances of programs including Social Security and Medicare.
What to Watch: Whether House budget leaders advance legislation establishing a fiscal commission and whether the issue becomes part of broader negotiations over federal spending and entitlement programs.
Source: WV MetroNews
Friends of the Cheat distributes landowner guide as MARL transmission fight moves toward PSC hearings
Friends of the Cheat has released a 12-page resource guide for landowners along the proposed MidAtlantic Resiliency Link, or MARL, as public scrutiny of the major transmission project continues. The booklet explains the proposed route and development timeline, identifies construction activities landowners could encounter and outlines potential impacts on private property. The organization said inquiries from residents increased after developer NextEra began holding public open houses on the project.
The proposed 107.5-mile transmission line would run from Pennsylvania through four West Virginia counties and into Virginia. Friends of the Cheat Conservation Program Director Madison Ball said the organization is particularly concerned about forest clearing, erosion, stream temperatures and impacts on sensitive waterways and brook-trout habitat. The organization emphasized that its booklet is intended to provide property and environmental information rather than legal assistance to landowners seeking to intervene in the PSC proceeding.
The report comes as the regulatory proceeding enters a more consequential phase. West Virginia Public Service Commission staff has recommended that the project be delayed or dismissed, and commission hearings are scheduled for Oct. 26 through Nov. 2.
Why it Matters: MARL is increasingly becoming both a regulatory proceeding and a landowner issue, with organized community outreach developing ahead of the PSC’s evidentiary hearings.
What to Watch: The PSC’s response to staff recommendations, additional landowner interventions, environmental and routing arguments, and the Oct. 26-Nov. 2 hearings.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
What to Watch
- Two Supreme Court cases Tuesday: At 10 a.m., justices are scheduled to hear the challenge involving the House District 91 appointment; at 1 p.m., the court will hear the West Virginia Board of Education and Superintendent Michele Blatt’s case against Secretary of State Kris Warner.
- Black Diamond’s clock is running: The PSC’s 10-day directive should force the parties to show whether a workable asset transaction exists or whether regulators need to return to alternatives such as receivership.
- Heavy rain remains a government-response concern: A flood watch covering 28 West Virginia counties extends into Wednesday morning, keeping emergency management, highways and local governments on alert after a year already marked by significant flood response and recovery demands.
- Natural-gas regulatory calendar picks up: The PSC has evidentiary hearings scheduled Wednesday in a Hope Gas case and Thursday in a Mountaineer Gas proceeding.
- Data-center rulemaking returns next week: The PSC’s Sept. 28 public-comment hearing on its HB 2014 generating-capacity proceeding remains an important venue for utilities, developers, ratepayer interests and communities affected by large-load development.
Dates Ahead
- Tuesday, Sept. 22 — 10 a.m.: West Virginia Supreme Court argument in State ex rel. Mike Pushkin, Stephen Willingham and West Virginia Democratic Party v. Patrick Morrisey and Roger Hanshaw, the House District 91 appointment dispute.
- Tuesday, Sept. 22 — 1 p.m.: Supreme Court argument in State ex rel. West Virginia Board of Education and Michele Blatt v. Kris Warner.
- Tuesday, Sept. 22 — 6-8 p.m.: Community meeting at the Belle Town Hall gym on the proposed Clean-Seas West Virginia facility.
- Wednesday, Sept. 23 — 9:30 a.m.: PSC evidentiary hearing in Hope Gas case 26-0544-G-390P.
- Wednesday, Sept. 23 — 10 a.m.: Supreme Court argument in SWN Production Co. and Equinor USA Onshore Properties Inc. v. Mason Louis Cottrell and Jamestown Resources LLC.
- Thursday, Sept. 24 — 9:30 a.m.: PSC evidentiary hearing in Mountaineer Gas case 26-0079-G-42T.
- Friday, Sept. 25 — 4-5 p.m.: Public forum on the proposed WISH Academy charter school at Marshall University’s Corbly Hall.
- Monday, Sept. 28 — 9:30 a.m.: PSC public-comment hearing in case 26-0633-E-GI, the commission’s HB 2014 generating-capacity/data-center rulemaking.
- Monday, Sept. 28: WVDEP deadline for comments on draft total maximum daily loads for Upper Elk River tributaries and Eastern Panhandle streams.
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