Two Groups Oppose Sale of West Virginia Coal-Fired Plant

Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. this year proposed purchasing the 1,300-megawatt-capacity plant along the Ohio River near Belmont from Allegheny Energy Supply.

They called it “the least-cost source to meet a steadily increasing capacity shortfall” in the utilities’ service areas that would initially cut average ratepayer bills by about $12 annually.

In a brief to the commission, West Virginia Citizen Action Group and West Virginia Solar United Neighborhoods say the sale among FirstEnergy Corp. entities mainly shifts risks and costs from the corporation to customers whose rates would rise later.