Discussing the future of the Pleasants Power Station

PLEASANTS COUNTY, W.Va. (WTAP) - The future of the Pleasants Power Station has seen much public debate since Energy Harbor announced its intentions to shut the plant down last year.

Proponents of keeping the plant open point to the jobs it provides, as well as to the economic support it continues to provide to Pleasants County and its schools.

WTAP spoke with Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action Board President Eric Engle to get the other side of the story.

Engle said that keeping the plant open will mean increased electricity rates for Mon Power customers who, for the next twelve months, will continue to pay for the Pleasants Power Station to remain open even though the plant won’t be producing electricity.

Nonetheless, Engle said he sympathizes with the position workers and Pleasants County as a whole are put in by the prospect of closing the plant.

“Really what it boils down to is concern for the roughly 154 employees of Pleasants Power Station. But I think that that responsibility falls on First Energy’s shareholders, not rate payers.”

Engle said that even the parties considering purchasing the plant to keep it open in the longer term are more than a little ambivalent. Notably, testimony before the Public Service Commission from its Consumer Advocate Division recommended that the Fort Martin Power Plant in Monongahela County be closed if the companies go through with purchasing.

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