West Virginia

  • Blackstone Investing $1.2 Billion for 600-MW Gas-Fired Plant in West Virginia

    Global investment group and asset manager Blackstone said it will support construction of a 600-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. The Wolf Summit Energy facility, which will feature GE Vernova equipment, is affiliated with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which serves about 1.5 million customers across three states.

  • FirstEnergy Plan Calls for New Gas-Fired Plant, Continued Coal-Fired Generation

    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.

  • Agilitas Energy Acquires Hydropower Assets in PJM Territory

    Renewable energy developer and project operator Agilitas Energy announced it the company has acquired two late-stage hydropower development projects from Advanced Hydro Solutions. Agilitas on June 24 said the 30-MW Tygart Hydropower Project in Grafton, West Virginia, and the 14-MW Jennings Randolph Hydropower Project in Garrett County, Maryland, represent Agilitas Energy’s first hydropower assets. It […]

  • Hundreds of New Gas-Fired Power Units Planned as U.S. Gas Output Soars

    The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published Dec. 10 shows five states accounted for more than 70% of record U.S. natural gas production this year and last year, which includes a period when electricity generation from natural gas also reached new summer highs. The availability of domestic natural gas, along with […]

  • Billionaire-backed ‘Iron-Air’ Battery Maker Picks WV Site for First Factory

    A battery manufacturing company with plenty of high-profile financial backing said it has picked a site for its first factory that will build “iron-air” batteries. Form Energy touts its technology as a breakthrough for long-duration storage of solar and wind power. Form, which counts Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and British tycoon Richard […]

  • New CPV Gas-Fired Power Plant Will Include Carbon Capture

    A Maryland-based power generation development group said its new 1.8-GW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia will include carbon capture technology, as the company continues to expand its decarbonization platform. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) on Dec. 12 said the new CPV Shay Energy Center will be located in Doddridge County, West Virginia. CPV […]

  • CPV Announces New 1.8-GW Gas-Fired Plant for West Virginia

    A Maryland-based power generation group said it will build an 1,800-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia, a project that will utilize carbon capture and storage to take advantage of a government tax credit. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) on Sept. 16 said it plans for the project to be operational later this decade. […]

  • Repowering Project Aims for Pinnacle of Success

    Clearway Energy Group reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy, and to its support of West Virginia’s push for cleaner energy, with a repowering of the Pinnacle Wind Farm. The project extends the wind

  • Clearway Cuts Ribbon at Black Rock Wind Farm, West Virginia’s Newest Power Plant

    SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 6, 2022) – Clearway Energy Group (“Clearway”) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the commencement of commercial operations for the newly-constructed Black Rock, a 115-megawatt (MW) wind farm that spans West Virginia’s Grant and Mineral counties. Black Rock is contracted under long-term power purchase agreements with customers Toyota Motor North America […]

  • Ohio Utility Says Two Coal Plants Could Close Next Year

    An Ohio-based utility said it plans to deactivate or sell the remaining coal-fired units at two of its power plants in 2023, five years earlier than previously expected. Akron-based Energy Harbor made the announcement March 14. The company in a news release said it wants to be a carbon-free power generator by the end of […]

  • Clearway Completes Black Rock Wind Farm in Northeastern West Virginia

    SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 10, 2022) – Clearway Energy Group (“Clearway”) announced today that it reached commercial operations on Black Rock, a 115 MW wind farm that spans West Virginia’s Grant and Mineral counties and will increase the state’s wind energy generation by 15 percent. Black Rock is contracted under long-term power purchase agreements with customers […]

  • More than 32 GW of New Gas-Fired Power Plants in U.S. Pipeline

    Recent reports from groups analyzing U.S. power generation note how states near the nation’s largest shale plays are expected to bring significant new natural gas-fired generation online over the next few years, despite concerns about recent market volatility that sent gas prices to their highest levels in more than a decade. With a long-term outlook […]

  • West Virginia PSC Approves Continued Operation of Three AEP Coal Power Plants Through 2040

    The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) approved Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) and Wheeling Power Co.’s (WPCo’s) request to keep the 2,930-MW Amos, 1,320-MW Mountaineer, and 780-MW Mitchell coal-fired power plants operational until at least 2040. APCo and WPCo are electric power subsidiaries of American Electric Power Co. (AEP), which is one of the […]

  • Regulators Rattle AEP’s Plans to Operate 4.2-GW of Coal Power Through 2040

    The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on Aug. 23 rattled American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) plans to operate the 2.9-GW John Amos and 1.3-GW Mountaineer coal power plants through 2040 when it partly denied cost recovery for expenses that the West Virginia plants need to comply with the federal Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) rule. The […]

  • The Remarkable Responsibility of Coal Refuse Power

    West Virginia’s only remaining coal refuse–fueled facility, the 80-MW Grant Town Power Project, is a 2021 Top Plant winner for powering on, despite challenges, to remediate 530,000 tons of coal refuse annually while reclaiming roughly 30 acres of land per year. 

  • DOE Earmarks $109.5 Million to Support Coal Workers

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it will provide $109.5 million in funding for projects that directly support job creation in communities impacted by the energy transition, particularly for workers and areas struggling due to closures of coal-fired power plants and coal mines. The DOE in the April 23 announcement, made in connection with […]

  • West Virginia Natural Gas Power Project Shelved

    A developer has shelved a 920-MW natural gas-fired power plant planned for Brooke County, West Virginia, citing “changing conditions in the energy and financial markets” and alleged coal industry interference.  Energy Solutions Consortium (ESC), a single purpose entity engaged in developing natural gas-fired power plants in West Virginia and Pennsylvania that has been active since […]

  • Argan, Inc.’s Wholly Owned Subsidiary Gemma Power Systems Enters into an EPC Contract for a 920 MW Power Project in West Virginia

    ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Argan, Inc. (NYSE: AGX) (“Argan” or the “Company”) announced today that in late February 2020 its wholly owned subsidiary, Gemma Power Systems (”Gemma”), entered into an engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) services contract with ESC Brooke County Power I, LLC to construct Brooke County Power, a 920 MW natural gas-fired power plant, in […]

  • 22 States, Environmental Groups Mount Legal Challenges to EPA ACE Rule

    A coalition of 22 states and seven local governments on Aug. 13 filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, which the Trump administration finalized in June to replace the Obama administration’s legacy Clean Power Plan (CPP).  Separately, 10 public interest groups filed a petition on Aug. […]

  • Future Looks Bright for Gas-Fired Generation

    Analysts who spoke with POWER differ slightly on the numbers, but they all agree that U.S. demand for natural gas for power generation will continue to rise. Supply should not be a problem—domestic

  • Willow Island Hydro: A Small but Mighty Marvel on the Ohio River

    Successfully designing and constructing a hydropower plant, while accounting for site space constraints and not disrupting commercial traffic on a busy waterway, presented challenges for a Midwestern utility

  • Longview Power Plant Rehabilitation Results in Most Efficient U.S. Coal Plant

    We’ve all probably purchased a “lemon”—an item that didn’t work as advertised—but when that lemon is a $2.1 billion power plant, you can’t just return it. For Longview Power’s management team, taking a “belts-and-suspenders” approach to problem-solving allowed them to identify root causes, make changes, and convert their lemon into “lemonade.” Most people expect a […]

  • Despite Stay, EPA Proposes Details of Clean Power Plan Voluntary Incentive Program

      The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled details of the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP), a voluntary measure central to the judicially stalled Clean Power Plan that seeks to provide guidance to states and tribes that want to meet goals under the plan when it becomes effective. The final Clean Power Plan, finalized in […]

  • AGs Tell EPA to Halt Aid to States Planning Clean Power Plan Compliance

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must halt its drive to help states supportive of the Clean Power Plan to comply with the rule because it defies the Supreme Court stay, the attorneys general for West Virginia and Texas have urged the agency. An April 28 request to the agency by 14 states seeking technical assistance […]

  • Federal Court Strikes Challenge to Proposed EPA Carbon Rule as Premature

    The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants, ruling that it has no authority to review rules that aren’t yet final.  “Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet […]

  • Legal Challenges to Clean Power Plan Begin to Take Shape

    Attorneys general from three states—Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia—stepped forward on May 5 to present their objections to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan. During testimony before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey presented three specific problems he sees […]