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CHARLESTON -- With the good news announced Tuesday that federal regulators approved the sale of the Pleasants power Plant, Gov. Jim Justice and administration officials expressed optimism about the plant's future.
Justice addressed the news about the plant during his weekly administration briefing Wednesday afternoon from the State Capitol Building.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized the transfer Tuesday of Pleasants Power from Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management to California-based Omnis Fuel Technologies after the two companies signed a purchase agreement last week.
"I know this Omnis group has worked really, really hard," Justice said. "I give them all the credit in the world. I'm very, very excited about what they are doing. I am absolutely tickled to death that we have a solution for that incredible community."
Pleasants Power plant is now going by the new name Quantum Pleasants LLC. Omnis has plans to convert the 1,278-megawatt coal-fired plant to produce hydrogen using hydrocarbons and byproducts from a sister facility producing graphite.
Energy Harbor, the previous owners who have been leasing the plant through the end of the month, announced last year it would shut down Pleasants Power at the end of May. The company asked FERC to change the plant's status to "mothballed" through July 31 while ETEM and Omnis negotiated a purchasing agreement.
The plant was first slated to be shut down in 2018, but deactivation was delayed to 2022. Deactivation was put on hold again in 2019 thanks to a tax break approved by the Legislature. The plant, located south of St. Marys and Belmont, directly employs 154 workers and thousands of temporary union workers during maintenance periods.
"The Pleasants Power Plant was surely on the chopping block. It looked like it could absolutely be mothballed and equipment sold off," Justice said. "Now we're looking at the possibility of growing even more jobs. I'm just as excited as I can be. Without any question more work has to be done, but at the end of the day for this county and this area of this great state, I am really happy about that."
James Bailey, the cabinet secretary of the Department of Commerce and the chairman of the West Virginia Public Energy Authority, said during a meeting Wednesday morning that the authority would receive a briefing in the near future regarding Omnis' plans for Pleasants Power.
"We've had good news developments on the Pleasants Power Plant," Bailey said. "FERC has approved that transition, which is good news...I plan on bringing folks to give an update on that transition and the nature of that deal when the time is appropriate."