Former ash landfill in Berkeley County to be repurposed for clean
energy source
FAIRMONT, W.Va., Sept. 23,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power and Potomac Edison,
subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), have begun
construction on their third utility-scale solar site in
West Virginia to help meet the
state's electricity needs and further encourage economic
development.
The Marlowe solar project is
located along Interstate 81 and the Potomac River on a 36-acre
property in Berkeley County that
was previously an ash disposal site for the former R. Paul
Smith Power Station. In 2022, after removing more than three
million tons of ash, FirstEnergy successfully completed the
closure of the landfill, paving the way for its redevelopment
as part of the companies' solar program.
Dan Rossero, Vice President of
FirstEnergy's West Virginia Generation: "The redevelopment
of this site into a clean, renewable energy source is aligned with
our commitment to support economic growth in West Virginia as well as our efforts to build
a more sustainable future for the communities we serve."
Expected to be complete in 2025, the Marlowe solar facility will produce up to 5.75
megawatts of renewable power. One megawatt of solar energy powers a
national average of 173 homes, according to the Solar Energy
Industries Association. As with its other solar projects, Mon Power
and Potomac Edison are using local union workers for construction,
and the solar panels, racking system steel and supporting
electrical equipment are made in the
United States.
The project is part of the companies' West Virginia solar program, which supports a
2020 bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature that authorizes
electric utilities to own and operate up to 200 megawatts of solar
renewable generation facilities to help meet the state's
electricity needs. The addition of new renewable generation also
encourages economic development in West
Virginia, as a growing number of companies require that a
portion of the electricity they purchase be generated by renewable
sources.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison are developing five solar projects
that will total 50 megawatts of renewable solar generation, the
first phase of 200 megawatts the companies plan to develop over
time. The companies completed their first solar project at
Fort Martin Power Station in Maidsville (18.9 megawatts) in January and
started construction in March at a second site in Rivesville (5.5 megawatts).
Combined, the five projects will create more than 87,000 solar
renewable energy credits (SRECs) available for purchase by
customers who support renewable energy in West Virginia. SRECs are certificates that
represent the environmental attributes of solar power and prove
solar energy was generated on the purchasers' behalf. For every
megawatt hour of solar renewable electricity generated, one SREC is
produced.
Since the inception of the solar program, Mon Power and Potomac
Edison have enrolled residential customers as well as large
commercial and institutional customers including the National
Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown and the town of Harpers Ferry. The cost to purchase SRECs
through the program is 4 cents per
kilowatt hour in addition to normal rates. To subscribe or find out
more about the solar program, Mon Power and Potomac Edison
customers in West Virginia can
visit firstenergycorp.com/WVsolar or call 1-800-505-7283.
The companies will seek final approval from the Public Service
Commission of West Virginia to
build solar sites in Davis,
Tucker County (11.5 MW), and
Weirton, Hancock County (8.4 MW), when they have
customer commitments for 85% of the renewable energy credits
generated by those projects.
Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Follow Mon Power
at mon-power.com, on X @MonPowerWV, and on Facebook
at facebook.com/MonPowerWV.
Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 customers in seven counties
in Maryland and 155,000 customers
in the Eastern Panhandle of West
Virginia. Follow Potomac Edison at potomacedison.com,
on X @PotomacEdison, and on Facebook
at facebook.com/PotomacEdison.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving more than six million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York. The company's transmission
subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission
lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow
FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and on
X @FirstEnergyCorp.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mon-power-and-potomac-edison-break-ground-on-third-solar-site-302255870.html
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.