The Pleasants Power plant is seen near Belmont, W.Va. Lawmakers heard a briefing Tuesday on a report showing future growth in electricity demand and the retiring of coal-fired power plants could create future reliability issues. (File Photo)

CHARLESTON – The Pleasants Power Plant is officially under new management, with its workers transitioning the plant to run on clean hydrogen.

California-based Omnis Fuel Technologies announced Thursday that the company has closed on its acquisition of Pleasants Power from Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management. The plant has been renamed to Quantum Pleasants.

ETEM was slated to begin demolition of the plant after June 1, but the two companies began discussion about the plant’s future. After doing due diligence, Omnis and ETEM signed a purchasing agreement in mid-July.

“As I began visiting with the workforce of the Pleasants Power Station and learned how much the preservation of the plant meant to the people of Pleasants County, this went from a business deal to a personal crusade,” said Rich Hulme, president and COO of Omnis. “We needed to prevent a shutdown not only to save the jobs inside the plant, but also to save the numerous ancillary jobs connected to the plant.”

The plant, located south of St. Marys in Pleasants County, directly employs 154 workers and thousands of temporary union workers during maintenance periods. The 1,278-megawatt coal-fired plant will be retrofitted to generate electricity with hydrogen, a byproduct of a nearby graphite production facility Omnis is developing. The goal is to produce power with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“By preserving the ability to generate power and by strengthening the grid, our technology will assist in keeping the lights on,” Hulme said.

According to Omnis, the plant will return to normal operations in the next few weeks with the goal of converting the plant to use hydrogen over the next 12 to 24 months. The company sees the purchase of Pleasants Power as the first step in purchasing other closed power plants. The company praised Gov. Jim Justice and Pleasants County Commission President Jay Powell for their support and guidance.

“Today we celebrate the purchase of Pleasants Power plant by Omnis technologies,” Powell said Thursday by text message. “It truly is miraculous how fast this acquisition has occurred. Now we will continue to work hard and pray harder that we can continue this fairytale story.”

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized the transfer of Pleasants Power from ETEM to Omnis subject to conditions, including keeping FERC informed of any changes in the application and as long as FERC retains authority to issue future orders.

The plant’s previous owners, Energy Harbor (formerly FirstEnergy Solutions), had been leasing the plant from ETEM and producing power up to the end of May and maintaining the plant through the end of June. Energy Harbor announced last year it would shut down Pleasants Power at the end of May, though it asked FERC to change the plants status to “mothballed” through July 31.

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. FirstEnergy subsidiaries MonPower and Potomac Edison were also exploring the possibility of buying the plant, proposing a plan to lease the plant for 12 months from ETEM while it considered shutting down another plant to buy Pleasants.

“All eyes of America are currently on this plant,” Powell said.

“We celebrate it’s not on the chopping block to be torn down. We celebrate the retained jobs and the possibility of more hiring to come. We celebrate the tax dollars for our schools and community. We celebrate the economic impact on the Mid-Ohio Valley and entire state. Lastly, we celebrate the hopeful future that this plant now has,” he said. “Make no mistake. We in Pleasants County are thanking the good Lord above for this transaction and the opportunities it brings to our community, our state and country.”