MORGANTOWN — While Thursday’s public comment hearing on Mon Power’s proposed interim solution drew just seven people, the public is actually far more interested.
The plan involves keeping Pleasants Power Station in working condition while it considers buying the plant.
The Public Service Commission’s tally of comments received on the interim solution and the purchase in general was 689 in protest and 582 in support as of Friday afternoon — although many of the protest comments are boilerplate and sent together in large batches.
To see the variety of thoughts on both sides of the issue, we present here eight comments of protest and eight in support. We follow that with an analysis of the comments presented by West Virginians for Energy Freedom.
Protest comments
- “Pleasants power plant is an obsolete boondoggle that a for-profit corporation wants the people of West Virginia to subsidize for their corporate shareholder profits at the expense of West Virginia ratepayers and the environment.”
- “If it requires raising our rates to keep these old plants open, then they should be closed down. Our electric bills are high enough without having to support old ancient plants. Citizens of West Virginia already pay way too much for electricity. Close them down.”
- “As a resident of West Virginia, it saddens me to hear that the PSC is even considering plans to provide life support to a dying coal power plant. It is no secret that coal is the dirtiest form of fuel available to power our energy grid. As such, the PSC should deny any attempt to maintain the coal industry in West Virginia to guard the interests of the current and future utility service customers and state’s economy, both of which will be negatively impacted by the further burning of coal, which only amplifies the detrimental effects of global climate change on our great state. … The PSC should instead work to protect the workers of the plant and not the plant itself. The current plan that the PSC is considering would raise $36 million in funds. If only half of those funds were raised, totaling $18 million, then there would be ample funding to pay each employee displaced by the plant’s closure about $120,000. $120,000 is a very livable salary for one year and would go directly to the people of West Virginia rather than the companies which operate within West Virginia.”
- “So when the company makes money the profit all goes to the stockholders and management, but when they lose money (by not investing in new tech) they want bailout cash from ‘the little people?’ I don’t think so. West Virginians are counting on you to do the right thing for our families and small businesses. Please don’t put us on the hook for bailing out this power plant that isn’t needed to meet our energy needs.”
- “I do not believe this plant should get continued subsidies, either through more taxpayers’ dollars, or a further increase in electric rates. Please support and encourage renewables. These antiquated, obsolete and dirty plants should be subject to market forces. Please don’t increase our Mon Power rates.”
- “I find it hard to believe that it’s worth keeping the plant open for the sake of jobs. I’d rather pay more in electric to compensate the employees and shut down the plant. That would be finite and the energy used in saving a dying industry can be used towards better energy resources.”
- “It’s crazy to pass on costs for a power plant that no one wants. Coal isn’t the same industry that it was before. It’s time to move on.”
- “West Virginians pay the highest rates in the country for their electricity, all in the name of protecting the dwindling number of coal jobs, despite market forces that are rendering coal obsolete. We need to end corporate welfare, and focus on the welfare of the people of our state. If the coal and power industry cannot make money in the current energy market, our state needs to look ahead to support the people who mine coal and run our power plants. The twelve million dollar bailout in 2019 did not work, and throwing our hard-earned resources to continue to prop up a failing enterprise out of the pocket of hard-working West Virginians is a waste of our time and money.”
- This boilerplate appears in many batches of comments submitted together: “I urge the Public Service Commission to reject FirstEnergy’s scheme to require West Virginians to pay higher bills to subsidize the obsolete Pleasants power plant. The Pleasants plant can already sell power into a regional power market, where it has to compete with other power plants. It is not the role of electric customers to pay higher bills to keep this privately owned plant in business and it is not the role of government to pick winners and losers in private businesses.”
Support comments
- “This is a prudent and appropriate course of action that will help ensure the long-term viability of the plant and the communities it serves. The Pleasants plant is one of West Virginia’s most-efficient power plants, providing critical energy to millions of people throughout the region. It is also a major employer in the area, providing good jobs, including indirectly thousands of jobs of local WV coal miners, and providing economic stability to countless families. By keeping the plant in operation and retaining all workers, we can help ensure that it remains a vital part of our energy infrastructure hopefully for years to come.”
- “I believe that it is imperative to keep this power station open in operating to combat the rising energy costs we are facing and to ensure a reliable source of energy to the Appalachian region/Ohio Valley when faced with harsh weather like the winter storm that hit at the end of 2022. Without this plant, thousands of people will be at risk of not having a reliable source of power and the closing of this plant will have a large, negative economic impact throughout the Ohio Valley.”
- “As an electrical distributor in this area, I strongly support the 12-month plan and hopeful future purchase of the Pleasants Power Station. This company has been a great partner and we have developed many great relationships over the years. The electrical staff that I deal with are very knowledgeable, friendly, and truly care about doing a good and thorough job for their employer. We also team up with them annually in support of the United Way which shows their community support. Please continue to work with all to assure that we maintain this clean, reliable, and inexpensive source of electricity in the Mid-Ohio Valley.”
- “I am writing you as a concerned vendor whose companies supply services to Pleasants Power Station. I am respectfully ask that you support the continued operation of Pleasants, by approving Mon Power’s request to negotiate a lease agreement with the plant’s owner. This request is a small price to pay for the continued reliable operation of the electric grid system.”
- “I feel paying an extra few dollars per month on our electricity bills is way more inexpensive than having the power plant shut down. I believe that would harm all WV residents and cause major upset to our current power grid and expense.”
- “I can attest to the many attributes the plant provides not only to the local region but also the entire state of West Virginia. Pleasants, with its 65 days of on-site coal, is a fuel-secure power generator. The plant is not beholden to the variability of mother nature like renewable energy producers and provides true, winter-hardened, dispatchable power. The baseload nature of the plant provides critical grid resiliency to our entire region. The plant’s 1,300 MW of capacity enables it to power up to 880,000 homes.”
- “Please keep Pleasants Power Station open. 95% of the people wanting it closed do not even live in Pleasants County. It would be devastating to the county to lose it due to the people who would lose their jobs and the loss in tax dollars to the county. With the promotion of electric cars, the power station would help maintain the grid. The use of coal also helps WV’s mining industry.”
- “The Pleasants plant is one of West Virginia’s most-efficient plants, serving to power millions of residential and industrial customers. It also provides base load power which is in full demand today as more gas and renewables come online. A diversified energy portfolio is the only way to insulate our residents and customers from the weather and natural gas price volatility that has wreaked havoc on energy grids across our country. For these reasons and so many more — like the economics and overall health for the local communities and surrounding counties — I fully support keeping Pleasants operating as a coal-fired power plant.”
Analysis
West Virginians for Energy Freedom submitted its analysis to The Dominion Post on Wednesday, when the count was a bit lower, totaling 798 comments.
The group analyzed the comments posted to the PSC website starting from April 5. After removing duplicates (the batch submissions) and reclassifying some misclassified comments in support, the breakdown of comments during the initial comment period was 457 in support; 341 in protesting.
West Virginians for Energy Freedom said its review showed a narrow margin of support for what it calls the bailout came from people who live near the plant or otherwise have direct financial ties to it. Fewer than 30 of the comments submitted in support were submitted from the affected population centers of north-central West Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle, served by Mon Power/Potomac Edison — the people who would bear the burden of any increase in rates related to the costs of paying for, maintaining, and accepting liability for Pleasants, and paying a guaranteed profit for FirstEnergy’s investors.
West Virginians for Energy Freedom counted 145 comments from people who stated that they have a direct financial tie to the plant, such as working there, contracting with, or otherwise supplying the plant, having relatives who work there or formerly worked there.
Of the commentors who would actually be affected by the proposal, there were 325 supporting comments and 253 protesting comments.
Of those who expressed support, 279 of the affected utility customers in support were from Pleasants or a surrounding county, with 135 of those coming from a single ZIP code next to where the plant is located.
West Virginians for Energy Freedom observed that six commenters mentioned the Fort Martin Power Plant, due to their concern that the Fort Martin plant might have to close if Mon Power buys Pleasants.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
