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CHARLESTON -- A spokesperson for companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice issued a statement critical of a story published Wednesday about a lawsuit filed against Justice-owned Bluestone Energy Sales by the owners of Pleasants Power Station, which just received a tax break pushed by the governor.
Richard Cullen, who identified himself as a representative for Justice's companies, released a statement Wednesday afternoon detailing Justice's effort to save the Pleasants Power Station, owned by FirstEnergy Solutions (FES).
Justice amended the special session call July 19 adding a bill to exempt Pleasants Power -- located south of St. Marys -- from paying business and occupation taxes. The West Virginia Legislature passed House Bill 207 Tuesday by wide margins, giving the coal-fired power plant the $12.5 million tax break.
"The Governor literally pulled all-nighters and brought people together within a few days to save the Pleasants Power Station, protect hundreds of good-paying coal jobs, and ensure the entire state continues to benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity it produces," Cullen said.
The tax break is expected to keep Pleasants Power open past a 2022 closing date set in October 2018. Pleasants Power is one of eight coal-fired power plants in the state. Six of those plants sell on the retail market and pass their business and occupation taxes on to ratepayers.
Pleasants and the Longview Power Plant in Monongalia County are merchant power plants that sell their power on the wholesale market and are not regulated by the Public Service Commission. Longview, a newer plant, has a payment in lieu of taxes deal with the county that exempts it from business and occupation taxes.
According to FES, there are 160 direct workers at the Pleasants Power Plant. It provides $400 million in annual economic activity to the state and is the single largest tax payer in Pleasants County. If the plant closed, it would cost the county tax coffers more than $1.2 million.
As lawmakers were voting for HB 207 Tuesday, a lawsuit was still pending between a company owned by Justice and FES.
FES filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2018 – one of two companies that spun off from FirstEnergy Corp., headquartered in Akron, Ohio. As part of its bankruptcy filing, FES filed an adversarial proceeding against Justice-owned Bluestone Energy Sales Corp. on Dec. 13, 2018. FES is seeking $3.1 million, the value of excess coal stockpiles that Bluestone allegedly agreed to buy back from FES in 2016.
The Governor's Office said Tuesday that they were unaware of the lawsuit between FES and Bluestone Energy Sales. Cullen did not specifically address any issues with the pending lawsuit.
"The fact that the Governor is getting anything other than praise for using his unique abilities to save the plant is frankly sad," Cullen said. "Your readers deserve better."
The bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2020, is awaiting signature by Justice.