Future of former Pleasants Power Plant uncertain as Omnis Pleasants files for bankruptcy
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CHARLESTON - The former Pleasants Power Plant will continue operating as the company that purchased the facility more than three years ago seeks bankruptcy protections and a possible sale of the plant.
According to documents filed Sunday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Omnis Pleasants LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing is part of a strategic initiative by the company to restructure its capital structure, resolve pending litigation and governance disputes, and facilitate a sale of the company's assets.
According to a press release, company leaders said they "remain focused on continuing to work to improve the reliability and performance of the power plant and to further strengthen the company’s financial position."
"After careful consideration, the management team of Pleasants, as well as its legal counsel and advisors, believe that initiating a Chapter 11 process is the best path forward to achieve a resolution that is best for all stakeholders," said Omnis Pleasants CEO David Hindman.
"It is top of mind and our goal to achieve a full recovery to the State of West Virginia and ensure a successful future for Pleasants Power Station while honoring our obligations to PJM, vendors and employees," he continued. "Current management of Pleasants will remain in place to work collaboratively with the State of West Virginia and all stakeholders to ensure the best possible outcome."
It was announced in February that the previous management of Omnis Pleasants, including Omnis Fuel Technologies LLC's Simon Hodson and Randall Smith, had been replaced by Hindman as CEO and Gilbert Nathan serving as director and independent manager. Since February, Omnis Pleasants operated independently from Omnis Fuel Technologies, though it retains minority ownership in the former Pleasants Power Plant.
As the sole director of Omnis Pleasants, the decision to declare bankruptcy was Nathan's. According to the filing, Omnis Pleasants has between $50 million and $100 million in estimated assets but also has between $50 million and $100 million in estimated liabilities with between 200 and 999 creditors. Total estimated creditor debt for 30 creditors listed individually in the filing was more than $73.6 million.
Omnis Pleasants' largest creditor is the State of West Virginia itself at more than $50.8 million, which was listed as "unsecured" in the filing. The state Economic Development Authority held an emergency meeting on Nov. 9, 2023, to grant preliminary and final approval to Hodson's Quantum Pleasants for a $50 million loan from taxpayers for a 30-month term at a 1% interest rate for expansion and retrofit of the Pleasant Power Plant.
The company was required to transfer a match of $50 million to secure the EDA loan, as well as grant liens and security interests to the EDA and create an account to deposit the first $20 million of revenues on an annual basis as long as the loan amount remains outstanding. The company was also to create a state security revenue account where any revenues above $20 million would be deposited for use in repaying the $50 million loan, which became due in May. A request for comment from the EDA was not returned.
According to the agreement signed with the EDA, the $50 million loan was given in order for Quantum Pleasants to secure a U.S. Department of Energy Title 17 Clean Energy Financing loan. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Hodson was seeking $800 million through the DOE program, with the company told in March 2024 that it did not qualify due to not meeting minimum requirements for number of hours for a clean energy demonstration project.
Quantum Pleasants had also planned to purchase 30 acres next to the Pleasants Power Plant to construct "quantum reformers" that would be able to burn coal at high temperatures, producing hydrogen for the power plant and graphite to be used for various manufacturing processes. Multiple experts have questioned the viability of Hodson's quantum reformer process.
In a document filed June 6 with the Pleasants County Clerk's Office, Omnis Pleasants canceled a lease with Quantum Pleasants (Hodson) for use of certain property at the Pleasants Power Station for the quantum reformer project after Quantum Pleasants was notified in April it was in non-monetary default following a Jan. 2 agreement between the two companies.
Several companies owned by Hodson, including Omnis Fuel Technologies, are defending themselves in federal court against claims by a former employee, Michele Christian, including allegations that Hodson made misrepresentations to secure federal and state funding, including a $25 million U.S. Department of Agriculture-guaranteed loan, the $50 million EDA loan and an attempted $800 million DOE loan.
In a response to Christian's complaint, attorneys for Hodson's companies have denied her allegations of employment discrimination, contract breaches and violations of the False Claims Act, accusing accuse Christian of misappropriating company data and making defamatory statements regarding human trafficking. That case has been stayed.
Omnis Pleasants' bankruptcy filing included 29 other creditors, with the second largest creditor ($20 million) listed as Bilt Technology LLC, which designs and builds modular data centers. Another creditor, listed as "undetermined" for the amount owed, was Industrial Accessories Company, which built the quantum reformer demonstration project.
According to a materialman's lien - a legal document used by suppliers to secure payment for construction materials - dated March 27, Omnis Pleasants owed Industrial Accessories more than $4.4 million out of a $10.7 million contract for work that was completed on Dec. 18.
At the end of June, Omnis Pleasants agreed to grant liens and security interests to TRAG LLC and RG Energy, both connected to motivational speaker and investor Tony Robbins, in the amount of $87.3 million. According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Robbins has invested $200 million in the former Pleasants Power Plant project.
Hodson's Omnis Fuel Technologies finalized the purchase of the Pleasants Power Plant from Texas-based ETEM, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approving the transfer of the merchant coal-fired power plant on July 24, 2023. The sale was finalized on Aug. 1, 2023. Former Gov., now U.S. Sen. Jim Justice celebrated the resumption of operations at Pleasants Power at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting later that same month.
The 1,278-megawatt coal-fired power plant employs approximately 140 people as well as thousands of temporary union workers during its maintenance periods. Pleasants Power serves as a merchant power plant, generating electricity exclusively for PJM Interconnection, the wholesale energy transmission company serving West Virginia, 12 other states and Washington, D.C.
The plant was slated to be shut down in 2018. Deactivation was moved to 2022 but put on hold in 2019 after the Legislature passed a bill in a special session to provide FirstEnergy Solutions a $12.5 million annual break in business and occupation taxes for the plant. Renamed Energy Harbor, the company announced in 2022 it would close the plant beginning May 31, 2023, selling the facility to ETEM for demolition while leasing the plant and burning off its remaining coal stockpiles.
Pleasants Power was commissioned in 1979, with its second unit going online one year later. Fifty-one workers died at the plant in 1978 when part of one of the cooling towers collapsed in what was once considered the deadliest construction accident in U.S. history. A monument to those workers, including four brothers, sits on a nearby hill.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.