Trending
CHARLESTON -- Jay Powell, president of the Pleasants County Commission, is a humble man, giving credit to God for helping put the pieces in place to save the Pleasants Power Station earlier this week.
"God has had his hand on this," Powell said in a phone interview after the West Virginia Legislature passed a $12.5 million business and occupation tax break that could potentially keep the power plant open. "We truly believe that God allowed, helped, and aided us all through this."
House Bill 207 passed the state Senate and House of Delegates by wide margins. The tax break for the plant kicks in Jan. 1, 2020, but it gives FirstEnergy Solutions -- the owners of the plant -- a card to play when they auction their electricity on the PJM market in August.
"FES appreciates the hard work and effort of the legislature in passing House Bill 207," said company CEO John Judge in a statement. "FES would especially like to thank Governor Jim Justice for taking the necessary action of including this bill in a special session. Today's action will ensure that Pleasants Power Station can to continue to operate into the future."
Pleasants Power, located along the Ohio River in the community of Willow Island outside of Belmont and five miles south of St. Marys in Pleasants County, is one of two merchant power plants in the state. Instead of selling to retail customers, merchant plants sell on the wholesale market.
Out of the eight coal-fired power plants in the state, the six plants regulated by the Public Service Commission pass on the costs of business and occupation taxes to customers. The second merchant coal-fired plant -- Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County -- is exempt from business and occupation taxes due to its "payment in lieu of taxes agreement. Until the passage of HB 207, only Pleasants Power was paying this tax.
The clock has been ticking for Pleasants Power's shutdown. An attempt by Allegheny Energy Supply -- a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. in Akron, Ohio --to sell the plant to one FirstEnergy's other subsidiaries was rejected by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February 2018.
Powell, who has served 11 years on the commission and has long-standing community ties, said the plant was going to be shut down in December 2018.
"I got a call from FirstEnergy folks letting me know the bad news in that case," Powell said. We knew then that that things were in desperate times in the sense that they had said if they don't sell to another entity that they would be deactivating the plant."
In October 2018, the plant's deactivation date was moved from December 2018 to May 2022. But the community didn't lose hope in saving the plant. It was too much part of the county's DNA.
The plant went online in 1979, but two years earlier it suffered one of the worst construction accidents in U.S history at the time. Men working on one of the station's two cooling towers fell to their deaths when the concrete on the upper parts of the tower failed. Fifty-one construction workers – including four brothers – died in the disaster.
Powell was three at the time, but his father – a pipefitter working nearby – rushed to the site to help first responders clear rubble and save any survivors. A monument now sits on a hillside overlooking the plant honoring the lives lost on that fateful day in 1977. The community has literally invested blood, sweat, and tears at Pleasants Power Station.
"Certainly, for those who remember and have told the story, that plant means a lot to the community obviously on many different levels," Powell said. "It certainly would be catastrophic in another sense if it could not stay open and operable. Fifty-one men lost their lives. Their intention was for that plant to operate and provide electricity for decades and generations to come. That's what we're striving in the community to do."
Powell was one of many who worked behind the scenes to save the plant. Powell even tried to plead Pleasants Power's case to President Donald Trump on three different occasions, though the closest he ever got was having U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., hand Trump a letter.
It was during a meeting recently with FES officials that Powell started talking with them about the business and occupation tax. After doing research and finding out Pleasants Power was the only coal-fired plant in the state paying the tax, Powell proposed contacting the Governor's Office to see if there was anything that could be done during the special session.
Powell and FES officials met July 15 with staff from the Governor's Office, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, and Senate President Mitch Carmichael. Justice did not attend, but Powell spoke with the governor by phone that morning.
"I asked first 'let's try to get it done during this current session.' It just perfect timing," Powell said. "There were certainly concerns, because there was a lot to pull off in a very short period of time. We made up a bunch of phone calls to lawmakers and as a result most folks were pretty receptive."
By July 19, Justice had added what became HB 207 to the special session call. The house passed the bill 77-5 Tuesday morning, and the senate passed the bill 28-0 in the afternoon. The bill is expected to be signed by Justice Tuesday, July 30, at the Pleasants Power Station.
"I can't thank the governor and the West Virginia Legislature enough to allow a county commissioner to come down there and speak on behalf of the county and the Mid-Ohio Valley region," Powell said. "I'm very very appreciative.
As for how long Pleasants Power will stay open even with this tax break, Powell said it was uncertain, though the goal is to keep it generating electricity for years to come.
"This bill, being signed and ordered, gives the plant three years for sure, but the conversations that were having is that this decision will help this plant be open for five, six, seven, many more years," Powell said.
"Our goal isn't just to be open three, four or five years; our goal and our prayer is to have our children's children see this plant operable," Powell continued.