State Agency That Urged Mon Power To Buy Pleasants Pans Proposal

The West Virginia Public Service Commission heard testimony Friday from Mon Power officials about a proposal to spare the Pleasants Power Station from closure.

A grey, marble sign with a building in the background.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) heard testimony Friday from Mon Power officials about a proposal to spare the Pleasants Power Station from closure.

Mon Power officials told the commission that they need approval by next week to impose a $3 million a month surcharge on ratepayers to keep the Pleasants plant from shutting down at the end of May.

That drew pushback from the very state agency that first recommended Mon Power look at buying the plant.

Robert Williams, the director of the Consumer Advocate Division of the PSC, said ratepayers would receive no benefit for the extra cost on their bills.

“Not one ton of coal will be burned. Not one kilowatt hour of generation will be coming out of that plant,” Williams said. “They’re saying, ‘we want another year to look at this and think about it.’”

The 12-month surcharge would keep the plant’s workers on the payroll, keep the tax revenue flowing to Pleasants County and maintain the plant in operable condition.

Author: Curtis Tate

Curtis is our Energy & Environment Reporter, based in Charleston. He has spent more than 17 years as a reporter and copy editor for Gannett, Dow Jones and McClatchy. He has written extensively about travel, transportation and Congress for USA TODAY, The Bergen Record, The Lexington Herald-Leader, The Wichita Eagle, The Belleville News-Democrat and The Sacramento Bee. You can reach him at ctate@wvpublic.org.

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