SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — Although Governor Jim Justice recently vetoed a bill which would have cleared the way for Mon Power and AEP to expand their solar operations, it did not preclude other independent investment into solar energy. In Nicholas County, one group is ready to move ahead with a proposed solar project which has County Commissioner Garret Cole excited.
“The company who is going to put in a solar farm, still have to go through a negotiation process with the Department of Energy. Unless something comes up, they’ll probably be ready to start with construction in the spring of 2026,” Cole said in a recent interview with MetroNews Affiliate WSWW in Summersville.
The project has been under development for the past four years. Cole, as a member of the county commission, was part of the group who travelled to Washington DC and lobbied the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for grant funding for the project. He said they were trying to get $150 Million. Cole was told by many it would never happen and it was a waste of time. But he ignored the naysayers and pressed on. He recently learned the project was awarded $129 Million and is moving to the next phase.
The project will be located on an old strip mine still owned by Lexington Coal. When Governor Justice issued a veto to the solar bill lawmakers passed last week it was for fear increased solar development would hurt the coal industry. Cole said they kept that in mind on this project.
“This surface mine has been completely mined out, there is no coal left on the surface of this property. However, there are three coal seams that are still mineable under the surface. The Nicholas County Commission negotiated with the company that’s going to put in the solar farm and I negotiated with the Department of Energy and they agreed to allow those three coal seams to keep their permits to still be mined,” he explained.
Cole was excited because it will bring more jobs into Nicholas County, particularly for the construction phase. He suggested it will be a lot like the influx of construction workers who were in the county to work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline in recent years.
As a bonus, concerns about harming the viewshed won’t be an issue. The site off Route 39 proposed for this project is well out of sight.
“Instead of out west where you see all of these solar farms right along the highway, it’s tucked back into the mountains, you’ll never see it, but it’s going to put cheap electricity back into the local grid,” he explained.