By Mike Tony
West Virginia utility regulators have approved Mon Power and Potomac Edison to keep negotiating with the owner of the Pleasants Power Station to stave off a shutdown of the coal-fired plant, withholding approval of a requested $36 million rate hike for now.
The Public Service Commission on Monday issued an order authorizing continued negotiations between the two FirstEnergy utilities and Texas-based plant owner Energy Transition and Environmental Management, known as ETEM.
The PSC found the utilities’ proposal that ratepayers cover costs incurred by keeping the more than four-decade-old plant operable until the utilities decide whether to acquire it reasonable.