Charleston Gazette-Mail: PSC greenlights Mon Power, Potomac Edison talks toward Pleasants Power Station takeover, holds off on surcharge approval

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.

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MetroNews: PSC tells companies to keep negotiating Pleasants Power Station takeover, but holds off on surcharge

By Brad McElhinny

West Virginia’s Public Service Commission ordered power companies to go ahead with negotiating what it would take to acquire the Pleasants Power Station, which is set to shut down in a little more than a month.

But in an order filed Monday afternoon, commissioners left open the question of whether the power companies could institute a surcharge on ratepayers for the costs of continuing to employ workers and keep the plant operational.

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“But we are disappointed that at least by implication the Commission seems to agree that the costs and risks of the ongoing evaluation of Pleasants are too great for First Energy shareholders to bear, but are perfectly acceptable to foist upon ratepayers who have already borne nearly a quarter billion dollars in rate increases in a little over a year, including manufacturing and industry responsible for thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll, tax, and other economic contributions to the state,” said Derrick Williamson, executive director of the Energy Users Group.

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WV News: Public weighs in at West Virginia PSC hearing for Pleasants Power Station plan

By Steven Allen Adams

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On the eve of an evidentiary hearing to decide whether ratepayers will have to shell out more money as part of a plan to keep Pleasants Power Station idling, supporters and detractors of the plan made their voices heard Thursday.

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Opponents of the plan who spoke Thursday said it was unfair to place the burden of keeping the plant functional on the backs of ratepayers who receive no direct benefit from the plant. Opponents also cited the need to move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources of energy.

“I’m here to state my opposition to the acquisition of Pleasants Power Station because of the impact it will likely have on my rates and my monthly bill,” said Sally Roberts Wilson, a Mon Power customer from Morgantown. “West Virginia citizens should not be required to bear the costs. ... it will become a choice of food, freezing or having a heat stroke in the summer months.”

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The Intelligencer: West Virginia PSC Hears From Public on Pleasants Power

By Steven Allen Adams

CHARLESTON – On the eve of an evidentiary hearing to decide whether ratepayers will have to shell out more money in order to keep the Pleasants Power plant idling, supporters and detractors of the plan made their voices heard Thursday.

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Opponents of the Pleasants Power plan who spoke Thursday said it was unfair to place the burden of keeping the plant functional on the backs of ratepayers who receive no direct benefit from the plant. Opponents also cited the need to move away from fossil fuels and to renewable sources of energy.

“I’m here to state my opposition to the acquisition of Pleasants Power station because of the impact it will likely have on my rates and my monthly bill,” said Sally Roberts Wilson, a Mon Power customer from Morgantown. “West Virginia citizens should not be required to bear the costs … it will become a choice of food, freezing, or having a heat stroke in the summer months.”

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Charleston Gazette-Mail: PSC holds public comment hearing on FirstEnergy utilities' $35M rate hike proposal to keep coal-fired plant open

By Mike Tony

Supporters and opponents of FirstEnergy utilities’ rate hike proposal of $36 million and potentially more to keep the coal-fired Pleasants Power Station open for 12 months sounded off on the plan at a West Virginia Public Service Commission hearing Thursday.

The PSC’s public comment hearing at its Charleston building reflected a virtually even split that had already emerged in over 1,100 written comments filed with the agency on the proposal.

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Opponents condemned coal-fired plants’ adverse climate effects and pointed out the increasingly uneconomic financial picture for the plant as coal-fired power generation dwindles throughout most states besides West Virginia.

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MetroNews: Public weighs in on keeping power plant operational — and at what cost

By Brad McElhinny

Members of the public weighed in on the fate of the Pleasants Power Station near Belmont, which is set to be closed June 1 unless an alternative comes through.

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Sally Roberts Wilson, a Morgantown resident, said she appeared at the public hearing as a Monongahela Power customer. She said the effect on rates would not be fair.

“I’m concerned that we will be saddled with the financial liabilities of this aged facility and its coal ash pond,” she said. “If this were a sound investment, private industry would not have rejected it.”

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