Thousands express opposition to FirstEnergy deal

By Ben Delman on October 19, 2017
Concerned citizens speak out in Morgantown about Ohio-based FirstEnergy’s attempt to put West Virginia ratepayers on the hook for the Pleasants Power Station.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) has completed a series of three public hearings as part of its review of Ohio-based FirstEnergy’s bid to sell the Pleasants Power Station to its subsidiary Mon Power. The hearings saw an outpouring of support from a wide array of West Virginians who expressed concern that FirstEnergy’s proposal will put ratepayers on the hook for its unprofitable power plant.

According to the PSC, more than 2,500 people have registered opposition to this bad deal for West Virginians. Only 51 have registered support. Many of those are FirstEnergy stakeholders such as contractors, employees, and development leaders.

On the last day of the evidentiary hearing, Commission Chairman Michael Albert indicated the PSC may consider approval with conditions. Albert said, “We would leave things as they are now for Mon Power…, and we cannot approve until someone says, ‘this is dead on the money’ or ‘this is so far off, we can’t tell you what we think is going to happen is likely to happen’.”

Final briefs are being filed this week with the PSC. We still have an opportunity to tell Commissioners why we oppose this plan. Click here to make your voice heard. If you’ve already signed, please pass along the petition to friends and family. If everyone who signed the petition gets just one additional person to sign, we’ll have doubled the number of contacts to the PSC.