West Virginia lawmakers put energy into saving Pleasants Power Plant
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CHARLESTON -- Efforts to save the Pleasants Power Plant near St. Marys and help other coal-fired power plants in the state are receiving attention from the West Virginia Legislature.
The House of Delegates adopted House Resolution 12 Wednesday, encouraging the Monongahela Power Co. to purchase the Pleasants Power Station. The resolution was introduced by Del. Trenton Barnhart, R-Pleasants, and adopted in a 93-2 vote.
"We want to raise awareness for this issue on a statewide level," Barnhart said. "Today, it is my hope this resolution will demonstrate our support that this Legislature has for the jobs and the opportunities that facility provides."
On Monday, the state Senate also adopted a resolution asking Monongahela Power to consider purchasing Pleasants Power. Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, was the lead sponsor of Senate Resolution 29, which was adopted 33-0.
"Pleasants Power Station is the economic lifeblood of my home county of Pleasants," Boley said Monday. "The station stands today as the single largest taxpayer in the state's fifth smallest county. The plant has, and hopefully will continue to serve as a foundational pillar of the local business community, providing more than $125 million in economic impact to the Mid-Ohio Valley and over $400 million to the State of West Virginia."
Energy Harbor, formerly known as First Energy Solutions, announced in March it would close the Pleasants Power Station on Willow Island along with the Sammis Power Station in Stratton, Ohio. Pleasants Power has been online since 1979, but unless a buyer is found the plant is slated to shut down May 31.
"I'm rising in support on behalf of the men and women who go to that facility every day, who work their tails off to keep our communities thriving and keep the power generating at that facility and go to work every single day," Barnhart said. "In addition to that, it represents hundreds of seasonal jobs, folks who contract with that facility and do work there and keep the facility running."
The plant was slated to be shut down in 2018 after Allegheny Energy Supply, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. in Akron, decided to sell the plant to one of FirstEnergy's other subsidiaries. That was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Deactivation of the plant was moved to 2022, but deactivation was put on hold in 2019 after the Legislature passed a bill in a special session to provide First Energy Solutions a $12.5 million annual break in business and occupation taxes for the plant.
"The State of West Virginia established itself as an equity position holder with the Pleasants Power Station when the legislature graciously adopted legislation … to save this facility, relieving the facility of a $12 million (business and occupation) tax that was a burden on the facility and was going to ultimately shut it down in 2019," Barnhart said.
As part of an order issued at the end of 2022 by the West Virginia Public Service Commission that approved a $91.9 million increase in the Expanded Net Energy Costs surcharge requested by Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison Co., both FirstEnergy subsidiaries, the companies agreed as part of a joint stipulation agreement to conduct a feasibility of purchasing Pleasants Power.
The PSC gave the companies until March 31 to submit a report to the commission on the feasibility of purchasing Pleasants Power separate from the ENEC case. Depending on the results of the report, the PSC could order a separate proceeding.
"FirstEnergy is currently evaluating the possibility of purchasing the Pleasants Power Station," said Hannah Catlett, spokesperson for FirstEnergy, in a statement Tuesday. "We plan to report our findings back to the commission by the end of March."
In a letter received by the PSC on Jan. 24, Craig Straight, representing 140 employees of Pleasants Power who signed the letter, encouraged support from the PSC for the purchase of the station and sought an opportunity to testify.
"A purchase of Pleasants by the companies serves as one of the last remaining paths forward for the plant, and our effort to stave off the premature retirement of our facility," Straight wrote. "Sadly, the decommissioning of Pleasants will create an indeterminable gap in both employment and tax revenue at the site, for both the employees and our host community."
Pleasants Power means more to the community than just jobs and tax revenue. Families have put literal blood, sweat and tears into building the plant. April 27th will mark 45 years since 51 workers died when one of the plant's cooling towers collapsed due to green concrete, considered one of the worst construction accidents in U.S. history at the time.
The PSC has received more than 100 letters of protest opposing the sale of Pleasants Power to another company. Opponents, such as Energy Efficient West Virginia, are concerned that ratepayers will subsidize the cost of purchasing Pleasants Power with higher energy bills, while the power produced by the plant largely is sent out of state.
Speaking by phone Wednesday, Energy Efficient West Virginia Legal Director Emmett Pepper said he sympathizes with the Pleasants County community and understands the dedication of workers to the plant. But keeping the plant operating when its power is not needed on the grid with other electric consumers footing the bill is not fair.
"Obviously, the Pleasants plant is important to the economy of the whole state and particularly Pleasants County and that region. There's no question," Pepper said. "But the 150 people who work at the plant are not the only people affected by this proposal. It's hundreds of thousands of MonPower and Potomac Edison customers."
Pleasants Power is one of two coal-fired merchant power stations in the state that sell their electric on the wholesale market along with the Longview Power Station in Monongalia County. Merchant power stations sell electricity on the wholesale market to large grid operators, such as PJM.
"A lot of time we ask is this the best deal for the power that is needed, but this power isn't even needed in West Virginia," Pepper said. "What is being asked of the government is to require West Virginians to pay extra to keep this plant online to provide electricity for other states. That seems pretty far afield from what was envisioned when we created these monopoly utilities, which was to benefit the people and provide electricity to the state."
According to Barnhart, at least 9% of the power West Virginia customers use is generated by the plant.
"The question is if we lose this facility, where are we going to come up with that? It's going to have to come from somewhere," Barnhart said. "This facility is important."
According to Energy Harbor, Pleasants Power annually burns more than 3 million tons of coal mined from Ohio and Marshall counties. The station includes two 650-watt generating units and employs more than 160 people, as well as an additional 400 seasonal jobs when the plant shuts down for maintenance.
Pepper said FirstEnergy should have created a plan to help workers and the community transition in the event that the plant needed to be shut down.
"There should be a plan in place for the local economy there," Pepper said. "We put in testimony for a different plant, and we may do the same for this plant, to say that we need to put a plan in place. There is already a blueprint. This has worked in other places, where you invest, you help with direct investment to help the local economy to transition out over five years or something."
Other bills floating through the Legislature this week would also help Pleasants Power and other coal-fired power plants in the state. The Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee recommended Senate Bill 609, obtaining approval for decommissioning or deconstructing of existing power plants, for passage Tuesday.
SB 609 would require the state Public Energy Authority to approve any future decommissioning or deconstructing activities of existing power plants. A company wishing to decommission or deconstruct a power plant would need to submit a petition that includes an independent analysis of the social, environmental and economic impact if shutting down the plant and potential alternative uses for the plant.
Also Tuesday, the House Energy and Manufacturing Committee recommended House Bill 3304, providing an exemption from the severance tax for coal sold to coal-fired power plants within the state, for passage. The bill now heads to the House Finance Committee.
HB 3304 would exempt thermal or steam coal used at coal-fired power plants in the state from the severance tax beginning March 31 except for the part of the severance tax collected and distributed for counties and cities. According to a fiscal note from the Department of Revenue, the bill would return $24 million to coal companies.
Pepper said he finds it interesting that Republicans who typically support free market solutions to problems want to use the power of government to put its finger on the scales for Pleasants Power and other coal-fired power plants.
"Frankly, it's not very conservative," Pepper said. "If it was conservative, we'd be relying more on the free market to meet our energy needs. We'd also be encouraging self-reliance, with people meeting their own energy needs as individual families and businesses."
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.