ST. MARYS, W.Va. — Mon Power has completed a project to upgrade its power system in Pleasants County.
The $2.2 million project involved reconfiguring the electricity network at a substation near the decommissioned Willow Island power plant. The substation is slated for decommissioning and will not be used in the future.
First Energy spokesperson Todd Meyers said the equipment at the facility needed to be de-energized because of the risk of equipment failure.
“It’s decades old,” he said. “A lot of that technology, even though it was well maintained and works, is not the newest stuff.”
Mon Power recently added three circuit breakers to the site as part of the project . Four regional transmission lines were also interconnected with other equipment
According to Meyers, crews will begin taking out steel and metal from the facility for recycling. This includes the facility’s lattice steel towers, which will be dismantled.
“All that material will be removed,” he said.
Meyers added the equipment is old enough where it cannot be taken to be used at another facility and should be recycled.
A salvage company is expected to work at the facility in mid-June.