FirstEnergy Distribution Utilities Complete 5.75-MW Solar at former Coal-Fired Power Site in West Virginia

Two West Virginia distribution utilities have competed their third joint community solar power facility in that state.

Mon Power and Potomac Edison, both part of FirstEnergy, installed 17,000 solar panels which at capacity can generate 5.75 MW at the Marlowe site in Berkeley County. The facility is situated on approximately 36 acres of company-owned property along Interstate 81 and the Potomac River.

The site was an ash landfill for the former coal-fired R. Paul Smith Power Station. After harvesting more than three million tons of ash for use in cement manufacturing, FirstEnergy completed the closure of the landfill, for its redevelopment as part of the companies' solar program.

"Our solar projects create construction jobs, support U.S. manufacturing and help us accommodate increased demand for electricity,” Dan Rossero, vice president of FirstEnergy’s West Virginia Generation division. “We are committed to ensuring that our customers have the right mix and amount of generation to support their everyday needs, and our solar facilities are a growing part of that."

Mon Power and Potomac Edison completed their first solar project at Fort Martin Power Station (18.9 MW) in early 2024, and their Rivesville solar site (5.5 MW) was operational in the fall of 2024. The Rivesville solar farm was also built on a former coal-fired plant site. 

The companies have 30 MW of solar capacity in total. Mon Power and Potomac Edison plan to develop a total of five solar projects including 50 MW of solar generation.

The five projects together will create more than 87,000 solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) available for purchase by customers who want to participate in and support renewable energy in West Virginia.

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 in the solar program. The cost to purchase SRECs through the program is 4 cents per kWh in addition to normal rates.

The companies' West Virginia solar program was developed after a 2020 bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature authorizing electric companies to own and operate up to 200 MW of solar generation facilities to help meet the state's electricity needs. The program involves the siting and development of solar projects on brownfield or impacted industrial properties while encouraging economic development in West Virginia, as a number of companies require that a portion of the electricity they purchase be generated by renewable sources.

West Virginia also recently passed what is coined as “microgrid bill” to facilitate on-site power development for data centers and other customers.