Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp, have submitted an integrated resource plan (IRP) to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia that outlines how the companies will aim to deliver reliable, cost-effective power to West Virginia homes and businesses over the next decade.
West Virginia’s energy landscape is changing as industries grow. The IRP lays out a roadmap to meet the need, guided by local priorities and a commitment to keeping power accessible and resilient. The new plan addresses the growing demand for electricity driven by sectors like data centres and advanced manufacturing, and supports governor Morrisey’s “50 by 50” initiative, which aims to boost West Virginia’s energy capacity to 50 GW by 2050.
The IRP looks at four different ways to provide power, guided by three main goals, namely keeping energy costs manageable for families and businesses, ensuring power reliability when demand is high, and supporting local investment and job creation while managing environmental impacts.
The preferred plan blends existing generation with new resources, offering flexibility to adapt to future conditions. Key recommendations include keeping the Fort Martin and Harrison coal fired power stations operational through the IRP’s 10-year planning period and exploring the addition of a 1200 MW natural gas combined-cycle unit to be operational around 2031. Fort Martin is a 1152 MW power station in Maidsville, West Virginia. It uses more than 2.8 million tons of coal annually.
The plan also sees the addition of 70 MW of utility-scale solar in 2028, and using short-term power purchases to maintain reliability until new resources are online.
