MORGANTOWN – Local political and business leaders gathered at Mon Power’s Fort Martin solar power site Thursday afternoon for a kickoff celebration and “flip the switch” day, as the company prepared to plug the site into the power grid.
Among those invited to attend the kickoff was Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, who was the driving force behind the 2020 legislation that enabled the site to rise from the ground.
“I’m really excited,” he said before the event began. “We passed a law in 2020, and it takes a few years to come to fruition. But this is a huge milestone for FirstEnergy and a huge milestone for the state of West Virginia.”
SB 583 allows the state’s two electric utilities (Mon Power, a FirstEnergy subsidiary, and AEP) to build or buy and then own and operate solar plants — four 50 megawatt plants totaling 200 MW per utility — in order to draw national companies to West Virginia that want a significant solar element in their energy portfolio.
This is the first of five planned Mon Power sites, and the largest solar site in West Virginia. It sits on 92 acres adjacent to Mon Power’s Fort Martin coal-fired plant, and the solar operation covers 80 of those acres, with 49,032 solar panels generating 18.89 MW.
George Farah, FirstEnergy vice president of Utility Services, opened the program. “It took a little while,” he said. “It took a lot of teamwork. And we’re just very pleased that we had aligned vision with so many people to allow this to happen.”
He explained that Mon Power’s decision to pursue renewables coincided with the state’s resolve to draw companies with green goals. And FirstEnergy’s aim to employ union workers, use domestically sourced materials and build on brownfield sites all came together, along with a federal tax credit to help underwrite the project.
There would be no project without customers, he said, but it drew interest and subscriptions from residential, commercial and industrial customers wanting to obtain the solar credits. And it drew the interest of the National Energy Technology Morgantown site, which will be explained shortly.
The plan for Thursday, after the kickoff, was to do some testing and then hopefully turn on the site to start feeding power into the grid.
Next to the lectern was Nick Preservati, director of the West Virginia Office of Energy. This was his first visit to the site, he said. “It’s awe inspiring. I didn’t realize the size and the scope of the project.”
He explained why it’s important. “Next to food and water, access to affordable and reliable energy is probably the single most important factor for us to be able to continue our way of life. … This is a phenomenal step in that direction.”
West Virginia ranks fifth nationally in energy production but only 31st in electricity generation, he said. That gap presents an opportunity to increase the state’s economic viability by moving power generation into the top 10.
This site, he said, helps maximize the state’s all-of-the above energy mix and meets the criteria of the state’s new energy policy: West Virginia REAL Energy, producing energy here that’s Reliable, Efficient, Affordable and Local.
Now to NETL and its partnership with the site, explained by Sean Plasynski, acting director. In the summer of 2022, he said, NETL was asked to develop a carbon-free electricity implementation plan to demonstrate how it would comply with a Biden clean energy executive order, with the specific goal of incorporating 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030.
As it happened, Mon Power reached out to see if NETL would be interested in a long-term solar power purchase agreement (PPA), which would meet the order’s requirements.
So NETL developed a first-of-its-kind PPA for its Morgantown site. It will buy 100% of its usage, 29,000 megawatt hours, annually from the site (the site feeds its power into the PJM regional grid, but the PPA records all the power as being purchased from this site).
The PPA made much more sense than NETL trying to build its own solar plant, he said, and allows it to reach the carbon-free goal ahead of schedule, by 2026.
“We at NETL are excited about this Fort Martin project, as it will advance the nation’s clean energy goals and help support the domestic production of high-performance solar panels,” he said.
Brian Tierney, FirstEnergy president and CEO, wrapped up the event. “This is a really proud moment for Mon Power” he said. “This is a win-win-win for the state, our customers, our unions, the country, all happening right here in Maidsville.”
Two other sites have Public Service Commission approval: a 27-acre retired ash disposal site in Rivesville, Marion County, to generate 5.5 MW, which is the next one set for completion; and a 26-acre reclaimed ash disposal site in Marlowe, Berkeley County with 5.8 MW capacity. Construction of these is expected to be complete by the end of this year.
Mon Power will return to the PSC later this year for final approval on two other sites: a 51-acre site in Wylie Ridge, adjacent to a Mon Power substation in Weirton, Hancock County, 8.4 MW; and a 44-acre reclaimed strip mine property near Davis in Tucker County, 11.5 MW. Construction of these is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
