MetroNews: Many arguments and little time as question of power plant’s fate hits deadline

By Brad McElhinny

The next few days will highlight arguments over how far the public is willing to go in saving a 150-employee West Virginia power plant.

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A multi-million dollar decision up against a tight deadline is unfair to ratepayers, said Karan May, Sierra Club senior campaign representative in West Virginia.

“It is not fair to ratepayers to ask nearly half the state’s electric customers to pay more on their bills to acquire a power plant that they don’t need and may not even be used — or to ask them to pay to keep it waiting in the wings,” May said.

“And certainly there’s not enough time for this to be judiciously considered. Rate cases and certificate of need cases, all manner of cases at the PSC tend to take up to six months and sometimes have gone on longer. Now we’re less than a month since the first filing by the company. No, it’s not enough time at all.”

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The Intelligencer: W.Va. PSC Sets Hearing on Pleasants Power Proposal

By Steven Allen Adams

CHARLESTON — With the clock ticking on whether to keep the coal-fired Pleasants Power Plant open past the end of May, the West Virginia Public Service Commission is quickly moving to consider a proposal that could keep the plant open another year at the expense of ratepayers.

The PSC will hold an evidentiary hearing 9:30 a.m. April 21 at its headquarters in Charleston to consider a proposal by Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. to keep Pleasants Power operating for at least 12 months while the companies consider a long-term solution for the plant.

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The Parkersburg News and Sentinel: West Virginia PSC to hold hearing on rate increase to keep Pleasants Power Plant open

CHARLESTON — With the clock ticking on whether to keep the Pleasants Power Plant open past the end of May, the West Virginia Public Service Commission is quickly moving to consider a proposal that could keep the plant open another year at the expense of ratepayers.

The PSC will hold an evidentiary hearing 9:30 a.m. April 21 at its headquarters in Charleston to consider a proposal by Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. to keep Pleasants Power operating for at least 12 months while the companies consider a long-term solution for the plant.

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Hinton News: PSC reopens case to consider Mon Power’s interim solution for Pleasants Power Station

CHARLESTON, WV (Hinton News) – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia will conduct an evidentiary hearing to consider Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison’s interim solution and proposed surcharge regarding the companies’ potential acquisition of the Pleasants Power Station.

The hearing will be held on April 21, 2023, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the main hearing room at PSC headquarters, located at 201 Brooks Street in Charleston. The hearing will also be live-streamed on the PSC website and on its YouTube channel.

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The Inter-Mountain: Companies fight to keep plant open

By Steven Allen Adams

CHARLESTON — Two power companies owned by Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. are seeking approval to keep Pleasants Power Station near St. Marys open for an additional year while it considers long-term options, but they also seek to raise prices on customers to cover the costs.

Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. released their analysis of keeping Pleasants Power operating past its closure date of May 31. Both companies are subsidiaries of FirstEnergy, based in Akron, Ohio.

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Charleston Gazette-Mail: Eric Engle: Say 'no' to Pleasants Power Station sale (Opinion)

By Eric Engle

In 2017, Mon Power and Potomac Edison ratepayers in West Virginia were spared higher electricity rates when the sale of the Pleasants Power Station coal-fired power plant from FirstEnergy’s Ohio subsidiary to its West Virginia subsidiary was stopped by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Ohio has an unregulated energy market, while West Virginia has a regulated market, so FirstEnergy knew it could put West Virginia ratepayers on the hook for the Pleasants plant and protect its shareholders from responsibility for the immense costs of continued operation, maintenance and cleanup when the plant shuts down.

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