Coal Waste Plant in Fight in Struggle to Stay Open

A coal waste plant at risk of shutting down in West Virginia is hoping to stay open through state proceedings.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Grant Town Power Plant’s owner, American Bituminous Power Partners, has teetered on the verge of bankruptcy, according to company filings.

In May, the state Public Service Commission denied the company’s proposal to increase its electric energy purchase agreement with FirstEnergy company Mon Power from $34.25 per megawatt hour to $40 per megawatt hour, which would have bumped up customer rates, so it could have a better chance at staying open.

But the PSC kept the company’s EEPA rate the same to allow American Bituminous an opportunity to continue operating while renegotiating its business structure.

Environmental activists have appealed, saying the PSC’s order contained “legal errors.”