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Omnis Pleasants Power project raises new questions one year later

Questions continue to arise following a Wall Street Journal story Thursday about the viability of a proposed hydrogen project at the former Pleasants Power Plant near St. Marys. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — Nearly one year after Gov. Jim Justice celebrated steam rising from the cooling towers at the Pleasants Power Plant after the coal-fired plant nearly closed for good, a national publication raised new questions about a project at the plant to produce graphite and hydrogen.

An article published in the Wall Street Journal Thursday morning questioned the viability of Quantum Pleasants LLC, a project that intends to take coal, superheat it, and separate out graphite for use in manufacturing processes, and use the hydrogen byproduct to generate electricity at Pleasants Power.

Quantum Pleasants, owned by California-based Omnis Fuel Technologies, resumed basic coal-fired electric generation at the wholesale merchant power generator south of St. Marys on Aug. 31, with Justice making the announcement at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 86th Annual Meeting and Business Summit at the Justice-owned Greenbrier Resort.

Omnis Fuel Technologies purchased Pleasants Power last summer from Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management, a company that planned to demolish the 1,278-megawatt coal-fired plant in June of that year. Energy Harbor, formerly FirstEnergy Solutions, was leasing the plant from ETEM and produced power up to the end of May 2023 and maintained the plant through the end of June 2023.

During a briefing last September for the state Public Energy Authority, company CEO Simon Hodson told state officials that Omnis planned to spend the next 12-24 months converting Pleasants Power to run on hydrogen produced onsite by the burning of coal at high temperatures in proprietary modules, separating the hydrogen gas and taking the remaining carbon byproduct to create graphene, or graphite, for use in manufacturing and batteries.

According to the company, Quantum Pleasants could burn between 8 million and 10 million tons annually from 36 modules to produce enough hydrogen to power the plant and produce 6 million tons of graphite. The company was supposed to have its first module built six months after re-starting the plant, though the company blamed delays on equipment and parts for not having its demonstration module up and running.

According to the Department of Commerce, the project represents an $800 million investment in the state and could create a projected 600 jobs when completed. Last November, the state Economic Development Authority awarded Quantum Pleasants a low-interest $50 million loan to expand and retrofit the plant for hydrogen production.

Justice, speaking Thursday on his weekly administration briefing, said the loan was meant to help Omnis continue coal-fired power operations at the old Pleasants Power plant and keep workers employed while the company works on the hydrogen project.

“The $50 million was structured around the plant’s profitability from the standpoint of they buy coal from West Virginians and absolutely they keep 200-plus folks employed in Pleasant County. You keep the plant running and you make electricity.

“From all that being said, they have the obligation and everything as far as repayment,” Justice continued. “As far as the new technology and whatever like that, that was just a bonus to me.”

According to the Wall Street Journal article, the technology behind Quantum Pleasants includes high-profile investors, including motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who invested approximately $200 million in the “quantum reformer” technology that claims to have no greenhouse gas emissions. Robbins’ investment gives him a 50% stake in the plant.

The Wall Street Journal article said the U.S. Department of Energy rejected an $800 million loan application from Omnis for Quantum Pleasants in March because the company did not meet the minimum qualifications to demonstrate that the quantum reformer technology was proven to work. The company plans to demonstrate the technology to the Department of Energy later this year.

Reporters with the Wall Street Journal talked with several scientists who were unable to corroborate the company’s claims without being provided additional information about the proprietary technology. These claims include how the company can claim zero carbon emissions for their process when using natural gas or other fossil fuels for their modules, or how the company plans to reduce the cost to produce a ton of hydrogen or claims that its process will produce three times the world’s consumption of graphite.

The article also cites a lawsuit filed in March against Hodson and several of his Omnis companies by Michelle Christian, a former director of rural affairs for the U.S. Small Business Administration who joined Omnis Global Technologies in 2020 as vice president of government relations. On top of claims of harassment, discrimination, and unpaid wages, she also accused Hodson and the company of lying to state and federal officials about Quantum Pleasants.

On Aug. 30, 2023 – the day before the re-start of Pleasants Power Plant was broadcasted live to the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting – Christian confronted Hodson about the project.

“(Christian) finally confronted Hodson about the truthfulness of statements he was making to state and federal government officials, openly objecting to his ongoing efforts to defraud government officials for investment funds,” Christian’s attorneys wrote. “Plaintiff accused Hodson of lying to the Federal Department of Energy and the West Virginia Government, and insisted she would not lie on his behalf.

“Hodson overtly tried to minimize Plaintiff’s complaints by trying to appeal to Plaintiff as a female, and making an actual advance toward her saying: ‘hold my hands and look into my eyes and tell me you believe me,'” the attorneys continued. “Plaintiff immediately responded: ‘don’t touch me,’ and Hodson said: ‘Then you should go.'”

Attorneys for Hodson and Omnis filed a motion to dismiss Christian’s lawsuit in May, arguing that because no loans had been secured at the time she was employed until she was terminated from the company at the beginning of September 2023, that Christian failed to prove the companies made any false claims. The company is also suing her in a Pennsylvania court regarding a personal laptop.

A request for comment from a representative of Quantum Pleasants and Omnis was not returned Thursday. Pleasants County Commissioner Jay Powell, who has worked for years to save the Pleasants Power Plant, was still reviewing the Wall Street Journal article Thursday and said he would provide comment at a later date.

As for Justice, he said he still has confidence in the Quantum Pleasants project and is willing to withhold criticism until the company demonstrates its technology.

“If we could be on the cutting edge to bringing the hydrogen era right here up to speed in this nation, world, and everything, it would be great,” Justice said. “I think we’ve done the right thing and time will tell about whether or not the hydrogen situation works out and the science works out. I’ve tried to be not necessarily skeptical, but I don’t believe in just somebody coming in and trying to sell you a pie in the sky. That’s why we’ve had all these safeguards and backups.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com

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