Gov. Jim Justice hopes West Virginia can identify a way to keep the Pleasants Power Station running.
“It would be a crying shame for the plant to die,” Justice said at a midweek news briefing. “A crying shame.”
Right now, Pleasants is expected to close June 1.
Its corporate owner, Energy Harbor, has been bought by another company, Vistra Vision, which wants its nuclear plants but not its coal plants like Pleasants.
PIeasants is a 1300 megawatt two-unit coal power plant located on the Ohio River near Belmont, Pleasants County. About 150 people work at the plant, which began operations in 1979.
State officials have tried to intervene over the past few years to keep the plant viable.
During a 2019 special session, lawmakers passed a bill to eliminate the business and occupation tax for the Pleasants Power Station. The tax had brought in about $12.5 million a year for the state, but lawmakers concluded that relieving the power plant’s obligation would buy it time.
This year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 609, which would require a power plant’s owner to seek permission from the state Public Energy Authority to close or tear it down. Lawmakers also approved a resolution to urge Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison to buy the Pleasants Power Station.
Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison say that deciding whether continuing to operate Pleasants is a good investment requires additional review, due diligence and evaluation.
On March 31, the companies submitted written analysis that proposed an interim step: While the companies work on analyzing whether taking on Pleasants Power Station make sense, they are suggesting a temporary surcharge.
The proposal is for a $3 million monthly surcharge over 12 months, a total of $36 million, to assure the plant remains operational.
For average residential customers, that’s estimated to be an extra $2.67 a month. For commercial customers, $8.44 more a month. And for industrial customers: $4,416 more a month. Those are estimated averages, so the actual amount for individuals could be more or less those amounts.
The West Virginia Energy Users Group, made up of some of the state’s biggest industrial power users, said the scenario amounts to a false choice “pitting the captive ratepayers of Mon Power and Potomac Edison against those who wish to see the Pleasants Power Station survive.”
“FirstEnergy essentially claims that it cannot undertake further consideration of acquiring Pleasants absent imposing a $36 million ‘temporary’ surcharge on its customers,” said Derrick Williamson, executive director of the energy users group.
But Williamson contended that Mon Power and Potomac Edison ratepayers have absorbed more than $233 million in rate increases since May 2022.
“And they can ill afford another $36 million or more on top of that – another rate increase will threaten manufacturing and industry and the jobs they provide, as well as mom-and-pop businesses, and the very livelihoods of senior citizens on fixed incomes and lower income families,” he said.
Meanwhile, Williamson characterized their parent company, FirstEnergy, as a $24 billion operation that could absorb and carry the $36 million for a few months, “and they could still seek recovery of those costs in the future after they have actually made a decision regarding Pleasants.
“In that way, Mon Power and PE ratepayers will be spared from absorbing the risk of FirstEnergy’s ongoing and lengthy decision-making process, while those who support Pleasants will get the fulsome consideration that they seek.”
Energy Efficient West Virginia, consisting of residents, businesses, and organizations, agreed the numbers don’t add up.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me why electric ratepayers should have to pay this surcharge of about $36 per residential customer when the plant will not provide a single electron of energy to them and, even if it did, West Virginians already use less power than is produced here,” said Emmett Pepper, legal and policy director.
Pepper said the $3 million monthly surcharge is best viewed as a minimum amount that would not include costs associated with further evaluation of the plant or any unforeseen construction costs. If the plant were to be operational, he said, the price tag would be even higher.
“In short, this proposal is too expensive and doesn’t benefit Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers. It is not an appropriate use of people’s electric bills to subsidize this plant that won’t serve the customers paying for it,” Pepper said.
The Public Service Commission plans an evidentiary hearing at 9:30 a.m. April 21 at its headquarters, 201 Brooks Street in Charleston. The day before that, April 20, the PSC plans a public hearing starting at 3:30 p.m.
“There is a tremendous amount of public interest in this case, with widely varying opinions,” stated PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane. “We invite everyone to come and share their suggestions and concerns with us on April 20. If you can’t be here in person, you can still submit a written comment.”
Governor Justice, responding to a question from Ogden Newspapers reporter Steven Allen Adams today, said he understands the various factors involved.
But, the governor said, “Just step back and think about it. A hundred and fifty eight jobs, right there in Pleasants County. That’s huge for Pleasants County. But not only that: Maybe 400 coal mining jobs that are supplying the plant with coal. The multiplier effect of those jobs is enormous,
“We want to try with all in us to find a way, to find a methodology, to be able to keep that plant open. Now that we have the delta of where we need to go, now let’s let folks really dig into the weeds and see what we come back with.”