Tag: Pleasants Power Station

Hope Gas Asks PSC To Block Pipeline From Supplying Pleasants Plant

Quantum Pleasants is talking to a pipeline developer, Icon New Energy Pipeline, about an agreement to supply the plant with the volume of gas it needs and at a lower cost.

Hope Gas has asked the Public Service Commission to block another supplier from providing gas to the Pleasants Power Station.

The Pleasants Power Station was sold last year to a California Company, Omnis Technologies, that plans to produce graphene and graphite and run the power plant on the hydrogen byproduct.

That will require a lot of natural gas: 100 million cubic feet a year by the end of 2025. The plant, now Quantum Pleasants, told the PSC in a Wednesday filing that Hope Gas cannot supply that volume.

Instead, Quantum Pleasants is talking to a pipeline developer, Icon New Energy Pipeline, about an agreement to supply the plant with the volume of gas it needs and at a lower cost than Hope.

Hope wants the PSC to review whether the arrangement would violate state law because the plant is an existing customer.

Omnis said the law doesn’t apply because the company has never been a customer of Hope. It asked the commission to dismiss Hope’s request.

In its own filing Wednesday, Icon said the PSC does not have jurisdiction over the company except for pipeline safety. It told the commission it supported the Omnis motion to dismiss.

The potential closure of the Pleasants Power Station, which dates to 1979, caused considerable outcry from lawmakers.

The plant shut down, briefly, last June but was reactivated when Omnis agreed to buy the plant from Energy Harbor.

State lawmakers had passed a resolution urging Mon Power to purchase the plant. The sale to Omnis made it moot.

Mon Power’s Harrison Plant Tops EPA’s Toxic Release List Statewide

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory.

A power plant in Harrison County releases more toxic material into the air than any other facility in the state, according to federal data.

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory.

The plant is responsible for 7.4 million pounds of toxic releases into the air and water every year.

Sulfuric acid accounts for most of what the plant releases into the air, and ammonia into the water.

Hannah Catlett, a spokeswoman for Mon Power parent FirstEnergy, said the company complies with all environmental regulations. 

The next four facilities on the Toxic Release Inventory are also coal-burning power plants, but all four release fewer than 3 million pounds annually.

The four are the Pleasants Power Station, now operated by Omnis Technologies; Appalachian Power’s John Amos plant; Mon Power’s Fort Martin Power Station and Dominion Power’s Mount Storm Power Station.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sulfuric acid forms when sulfur dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas reacts with water in the air.

According to a Mon Power fact sheet, the Harrison Power Station is equipped with pollution controls that remove 98 percent of sulfur dioxide from the plant’s emissions.

State Senators Weigh In On The Bills That Passed, Failed This Session

On this episode of The Legislature Today, our Senate reporter Briana Heaney talks with Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, to discuss where things stand and how that compares to what they planned to do at the beginning of the session.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, our Senate reporter Briana Heaney talks with Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, to discuss where things stand and how that compares to what they planned to do at the beginning of the session.

Also, earlier in the day Thursday, Gov. Jim Justice issued a proclamation to extend the legislative session by one day to allow the legislature to finalize the state budget bill. There has been discussion about a special session in May to finalize questions regarding a potential federal claw back of COVID-19 relief funds.

In the House, there was a long debate over minorities purchasing car dealerships and another contested debate over control of the Legislative Auditor’s office. Other proposals included smoking in the car with a child and taking action over a massive federal deficit.

In the Senate, the chamber passed several House bills, some of which head to the governor and others back to the House to concur on changes. Some notable bills in the Senate Thursday were on topics such as renewable energy, pornography and cyber security. Briana Heaney has more.

Finally, a state Senate committee heard new details Wednesday about how the Pleasants Power Station will be converted from coal to hydrogen. Curtis Tate has the story.

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The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Presentation: Pleasant Plant’s Hydrogen Conversion Still Involves Coal

Burning hydrogen emits no carbon dioxide. However, the source of that hydrogen at Pleasants will still be coal.

A state Senate committee heard new details Wednesday about how the Pleasants Power Station will be converted from coal to hydrogen.

Pleasants is a 1,300-megawatt power plant along the Ohio River north of Parkersburg. Its coal-fired boilers went cold in June when its then-owner, Energy Harbor, shut them down.

But state lawmakers, including Sen. Donna Boley, a Pleasants County Republican, fought to save the plant from closure.

Not long after the plant went idle, a California company called Omnis Technology stepped in.

Omnis reactivated the plant. The ultimate goal, though, is to produce graphite on the site and use the hydrogen byproduct to generate electricity.

Burning hydrogen emits no carbon dioxide. However, the source of that hydrogen at Pleasants will still be coal.

Steve Winberg, the former Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy in the Trump administration, explained to the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee how the process would work. 

“Their goal is to convert Pleasants from coal to 100 percent hydrogen, and then make the hydrogen from the coal. So, at a minimum, we’ll see the same amount of coal going to Pleasants, but it will be converted to hydrogen, and then the hydrogen will be burned in the boiler. So, there’s going to have to be a retrofit on that boiler to allow it to burn hydrogen and still maintain the 600 megawatts that it’s capable of maintaining or producing.”

Winberg explained to the committee that the technology is emerging. It requires heating the coal to 3,000 degrees Celsius. The bar the process has to clear is producing hydrogen that’s cheaper than natural gas.

“If this technology works, it will be cost competitive with natural gas. And so proof is in the pudding, we’ll see if they’re able to get it to work at 3,000 degrees. But if they do, it’s a pretty intriguing technology.” 

Omnis is investing $800 million into the facility. If successful, it will need 600 workers to operate in addition to the 160 who run the current plant.

Saved From An Uncertain Future, Pleasants Power Station Is Reactivated

At the Greenbrier Resort, Gov. Jim Justice said Omnis Technologies would invest $800 million into the plant and eventually run it on hydrogen.

For the past several weeks, the Pleasants Power Station has been idle, its cooling towers emitting no steam high above the Ohio River in Pleasants County.

On Wednesday, the 1,300-megawatt power plant was reactivated, achieving a goal of state and local officials who wanted to preserve its jobs and tax revenues.

At the Greenbrier Resort, Gov. Jim Justice said Omnis Technologies would invest $800 million into the plant and eventually run it on hydrogen.

“The Pleasants Power Plant, a power plant, a coal-fired power plant, is taking new life,” Justice said.

According to the governor’s office, Omnis will create 600 new jobs in addition to saving the 160 jobs at the existing power plant. It’s not clear when the plant will be converted to hydrogen.

In this year’s regular session, state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved resolutions to encourage Mon Power to purchase the 44-year-old plant.

At the urging of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Mon Power did explore that option and proposed a $36 million surcharge on electricity customers to keep the plant in operating condition.

That became a moot point when Omnis stepped in.

Pleasants Power Station, Once Facing Closure, Now Has A New Owner

Few details of the transaction are publicly available, including the purchase price. It’s also unclear how many of the plant’s 165 employees will be retained.

The Pleasants Power Station officially has a new owner.

As of Tuesday, Quantum Pleasants has taken over the coal-burning plant in Pleasants County from ETEM, according to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

FERC approved the deal last week.

The plant ceased operating on June 1, and ETEM had intended to demolish it and redevelop the site.

Quantum has plans to produce graphite, a key ingredient used to make batteries. The process produces hydrogen as a byproduct, and Quantum plans to fuel the power plant with it.

Few details of the transaction are publicly available, including the purchase price. It’s also unclear how many of the plant’s 165 employees will be retained.

The 1,300-megawatt plant first came online in 1979. It could have closed several years ago, but state lawmakers and Gov. Jim Justice rescued it with a $12.5 million a year tax break.

Earlier this year, again faced with the prospect of Pleasants shutting down, state lawmakers passed resolutions to encourage Mon Power to purchase the plant.

Mon Power did examine the possibility, and initially asked the state Public Service Commission to charge ratepayers $3 million a month to keep the plant in operating condition while it studied a purchase.

By stepping in, Quantum Pleasants ensures that Mon Power ratepayers will not be on the hook for the plant.

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