GLASGOW, W.Va. — American Electric Power will close Appalachian Power’s Kanawha River Plant in Glasgow before the end of May, according to information provided to employees and Kanawha County officials on Monday.
AEP first announced plans to shutdown the coal-fired plant in June 2011 as part of the company’s larger environmental compliance plan for MATS, standing for Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, along with other regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency.
While Monday’s announcement was not a surprise, Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy said the planned closure, now set for around May 31, was still a blow for the community.
“I grew up in the Upper Kanawha Valley and there many, many people – including my own father – who worked there for many, many years. It’s hard to see such a strong economic engine be closed,” Hardy said.
“It’s been very good to the town of Glasgow.”
AEP officials said many current employees would be transferred into new positions at other locations following the plant’s closure while the remaining employees were being offered severance packages.
Earlier reports indicated the facility employs about 60 people.
The Kanawha River Plant, which generates and transmits electrical power to communities in W.Va. and Virginia, is one of five AEP plants closed already or set for closure in both W.Va. and Ohio.
AEP has owned and operated the facility since 1952.