Monogalia County Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

PSC Gives Longview Power Extension For Gas, Solar Projects

Longview Power, which operates a coal-burning plant near the Pennsylvania border, applied to the PSC in 2020 for a siting certificate to build a gas plant and solar facility.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission has granted an extension to Longview Power to build a natural gas plant and a solar facility in Monongalia County.

Longview Power, which operates a coal-burning plant near the Pennsylvania border, applied to the PSC in 2020 for a siting certificate to build a gas plant and solar facility.

Construction on the project was to have begun by April 2025, but Longview now says the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the US in 2020, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and supply chain disruptions have made that difficult to achieve.

On Tuesday, the PSC granted an extension for Longview to begin construction by April 2029 and to complete the project by April 2034.

Longview plans to build a 1,200-megawatt combined-cycle gas plant, alongside a 70-megawatt solar facility that straddles the state border.

Longview is an independent power producer that supplies electricity to the PJM regional grid.

Longview’s coal plant is adjacent to Mon Power’s Fort Martin Power Station, which includes a coal plant and a solar facility.

Mon Power’s Fort Martin solar facility began operating in January and is the state’s largest. The coal plant is scheduled to retire in 2034.

State’s Largest Solar Facility Powers Up In Monongalia County

Mon Power’s Fort Martin solar plant spreads out on about 80 rolling acres just south of the Pennsylvania border.

The state’s largest solar generation facility came online Thursday in Monongalia County.

Mon Power’s Fort Martin solar plant spreads out on about 94 rolling acres just south of the Pennsylvania border. It generates about 19 megawatts of electricity. That’s not as much as two nearby coal-burning power plants. But for now, it is the largest solar plant in the state.

Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, is one of the legislature’s biggest supporters of renewable energy.

“We need a lot of solar electricity because there’s a lot of businesses that require it,” he said. “And they won’t come to West Virginia unless they can get it.”

Mon Power expects to complete two more solar sites this year and seek approval from state regulators for two more to be constructed next year.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown said Friday it has an agreement to purchase power from the Fort Martin facility.

Want to sign up to receive solar credits? Find out how.

June 1, 1956: Artist Blanche Lazelle Dies at 77

Artist Blanche Lazzell died on June 1, 1956, at age 77. She was born in Maidsville in Monongalia County in 1878. After receiving a diploma from the West Virginia Conference Seminary and an art degree from West Virginia University, she moved to New York City and studied with influential artists Kenyon Cox and William Merritt Smith. A remarkably independent woman for the time, Lazzell traveled twice to Paris, where she became enthralled with the avant-garde Cubism movement.

Blanche Lazell eventually settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She helped found the Provincetown Printers artists’ colony, which popularized single block color prints. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration commissioned her to create color wood-block prints of scenes in and around Morgantown and a mural for the courthouse titled ‘‘Justice over Monongalia County.’

Lazzell showed her art in many prestigious exhibitions. And today, her work is in major museums and galleries, including the Smithsonian Institution, and in the collections of West Virginia Wesleyan College, WVU, and the West Virginia State Archives. She’s recognized as one of West Virginia’s most notable artists and one of America’s leading abstract painters and print makers.

West Virginia Lawmaker Who Won Primary Drops Re-Election Bid

A Monongalia County state delegate who won his Republican primary unopposed is no longer seeking re-election.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Delegate Brian Kurcaba cited family reasons for why he won’t seek a second term in the House of Delegates.

The Morgantown lawmaker said that in the long term, he can’t shoulder the 60-day session, special sessions, a full-time job and leading a family.

Kurcaba was elected to the House in 2014. He was among five Republicans in the 51st District who were unopposed in the May primary. Republicans will face five Democrats for five 51st District seats in November.

He said he will continue serving his term through December.

The Monongalia County Republican Executive Committee plans to pick a fifth GOP candidate to replace Kurcaba on the ballot.

Bill to Recalculate Base Tax Revenue Passes in the House

The House considered House Bill 2562 Monday, relating to sales tax increment financing. This bill would authorize recalculation of the base tax revenue amount, specifically in reference to Morgantown and other areas of Monongalia County.

Delegate Eric Nelson, the House Finance Chair, explained the bill and says it will help infrastructure in Monongalia County.

“This is an evolving form of financing,” Nelson explained, “As we move forward as a state and look to create opportunities for new economic development, part of that is having some funding sources. The state is not at risk in this. They do not own the bonds. What has been described here, comparing this as a mortgage, the state doesn’t have a mortgage on this. There are other people that hold these bonds looking to the development up in Morgantown, the excess development, the excess sales, that will pay off their funding that they’ve put in place so that we could finish the development of this area, this interchange, bring in new business to help the whole community of Monongalia County and Morgantown.”

Delegate Doug Reynolds opposed the bill saying it was too vague.

“People in Morgantown got their baseball stadium; the only issue here is, and I’m not sure whether the fifteen million was too high or too low, is who bares that risk? The bond holders or the tax payers of the state of West Virginia?” Reynolds asked.

Delegate Cindy Frich of Monongalia County supported the bill and says it must be passed if Monongalia County’s infrastructure is to improve.

“I heard Mon County’s getting a baseball field, or we got our baseball field, WVU got their baseball field. If this does not go forward, Monongalia County will not get their infrastructure improvements, will not get the interchange, will not get infrastructure for development of one of the least development parts of the county, with one of the poorest schools, accessing, poorest children accessing a school in the area,” Frich said.

Delegate Nelson spoke again before passage, urging support of the bill, and saying it’s just one step in the right direction.

“Let’s look at other forms of development that we have utilized throughout this state,” Nelson said, “How many new entities have come into this state that have received a tax credit of some form or another? We’ve had quite a few of those. So this just happens to be a form of financing that is basically cutting a base at a certain level, and everything above that is benefit to private players taking a risk on the assumption of growth. The state is a party to that, because we’ve looked ahead, set a base, and we go off that.”

House Bill 2562 passed 75 to 20.