FirstEnergy Corp. has submitted a plan to build a new 1,200-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant to serve customers in West Virginia. The company recently filed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with state regulators that also calls for keeping two major coal-fired power plants in West Virginia operating at least through the next decade.
FirstEnergy, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, through subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison said the new gas-fired power station would be operational around 2031. The company also said it wants to add at least 70 MW of solar power generation capacity in 2028, and said it will purchase power in the short team to maintain grid reliability until the new resources are online.
“Our Integrated Resource Plan reflects a long-term view of the state’s energy future,” said Jim Myers, FirstEnergy’s president of West Virginia and Maryland, in a statement. “It is the result of careful analysis and planning—designed to ensure we can continue delivering reliable power while supporting economic development and keeping costs manageable for our customers.”
Officials said the IRP supports West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s “50 by 50″ initiative, a strategy to increase the state’s power generation capacity to at least 50 GW by 2050.
Keeping 3 GW of Coal-Fired Power Online
FirstEnergy in the IRP said it plans to keep the 1,098-MW coal-fired Fort Martin Power Station in Maidsville, West Virginia, and the 1,984-MW coal-fired Harrison Power Station in Haywood, West Virginia, operational at least during the 10-year planning period covered by the IRP.
Government data shows more than 80% of West Virginia’s electricity is produced by burning coal. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) lists 10 coal-fired power plants currently operating in the state. EIA data shows the state is second only to Wyoming in U.S. coal production.
The Harrison plant’s three units came online between 1972 and 1974. FirstEnergy has said the company has invested about $1 billion for environmental control systems at the station. Fort Martin has two units that came online in 1967 and 1968, respectively.
New Gas-Fired Plant
The new gas-fired plant proposed by FirstEnergy would easily be the state’s largest in terms of generation capacity. The EIA list four natural gas-fired power plants currently operating in West Virginia. The 519-MW Ceredo Generating Station, owned by Appalachian Power, is the largest gas-fired facility in the state. It was commissioned in 2001.
“FirstEnergy’s proposal to build a new natural gas power plant in West Virginia is the kind of America-first energy strategy our state and nation need,” said West Virginia state treasurer Larry Pack. “It means good jobs, reliable and affordable power, and a strong commitment to using the resources we produce right here at home. I believe economic growth and job creation require a strong energy infrastructure, and West Virginia has always been—and will always be—an energy powerhouse for America.”
FirstEnergy operates one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric systems, serving more than six million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York. The company’s transmission subsidiaries operate about 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.
MonPower serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 customers in seven counties in Maryland, along with 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
