Impact Spotlight
5,200 coal-impacted people trained in renewables and sustainability sectors
Over 11 megawatts of renewable energy deployed into coal-impacted communities (with 400 mw pending in federal funding)
The largest solar warehouse in West Virginia deployed in a renovated coal train factory
About
West Virginia is the top coal producing state in Appalachia — and in 2018, coal-fired power plants accounted for 92% of West Virginia's electricity. At the same time, West Virginian communities are struggling as the coal industry requires fewer skilled workers. All over the state and Appalachia, people are losing their jobs.
Coalfield Development was built by and for West Virginians in response to this community crisis. A community-based social enterprise, they invest in neighborhoods facing barriers to prosperity. At their West Edge facility in Huntington, WV, they're creating jobs for out-of-work coal miners and their children in an attempt to change the future of Appalachia. It is here that they work with one of their social enterprise partners, Solar Holler, to develop thousands of solar installations for their region.
Coalfield Development is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the economic future for Appalachia. Led by Jacob Hannah, a fourth generation energy worker, Coalfield Development envisions a future beyond coal across West Virginia.
“For three generations my family and community have had to break our bodies and our mountains mining coal. Now we can begin to heal both by mining the sun.”
HF Partnership
In 2020, the Honnold Foundation funded the largest nonprofit based solar array in West Virginia at its time on the roof of Coalfield Development's workforce and solar incubator community facility, and supported a comprehensive solar job training program through their social enterprise partner, Solar Holler. The result represented a bastion of renewable energy in the coalfields.
In 2022, Coalfield Development set their sights on a new goal: pioneering the first solar on mine-scarred land in West Virginia, where 30% of residents live below the poverty line due to job loss experienced in the wake of the coal industry. This site now produces energy as part of the soil reclamation and permaculture practices for former coal miners.
Now, after losing 14 federal grants following the federal funding changes in 2025, amounting to what would have been the largest deployment of renewable energy ever in Appalachia, Coalfield continues to push the work forward, one kilowatt, one sun-miner at a time. This latest round of funding from HF will empower Coalfield Development's latest project: the largest solar warehouse in West Virginia – The Black Diamond Sustainable Hub.
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