State-of-the-Art Longview Power Coal Plant is Good for USA

As the old saying goes, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

In West Virginia we talk a lot about the coming petrochemical renaissance that will utilize our natural gas resources to power new chemical, plastics and manufacturing businesses while creating thousands of jobs in the process. I am optimistic this will happen, but we haven’t been able to flush those “birds” out of the bush just yet.

West Virginia does, however, have “one in the hand” right now with our company’s proposal to develop the Longview Power Clean Energy Center project and we’d appreciate your support for incremental positive change towards a cleaner, cost-effective and reliable West Virginia energy production industry.

Longview Power, located just outside Morgantown, has filed application for a siting certificate with the West Virginia Public Service Commission for the construction and operation of a wholesale electric generating facility comprised of a 1,200-megawatt (MW) gas-fired combined-cycle power plant and a 70-MW, utility grade solar installation. This is in addition and to be constructed adjacent to Longview’s 710 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant which generates electricity more cleanly, efficiently and at more competitive rates than nearly all other fossil fuel generators in North America.

The new project, to be constructed using union labor, will cost $1.1 billion, create 5,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction, and employee compensation will exceed $360 million. The facility will pay an additional $2 million annually in PILOT and tax payments to Monongalia County, over and above the $3 million currently generated by the coal plant.

The new project is needed to provide clean, affordable power to our region for decades to come. Additionally, the project just makes sense when you look at what’s happening in the energy marketplace.

Consider that more than 25 new gas-fired electric generation facilities have been built in and around the Mid-Atlantic in the last five years, and four more are under construction. Unfortunately, none of those have been built in West Virginia.

Additionally, the development of new gas wells in West Virginia, and the jobs that go with them, are flat or declining. That’s occurring because we have too much gas going unused in the local market and a lack of completed pipeline infrastructure to transport it to regions that need it. The Longview Power Clean Energy Center, once operational, will utilize approximately 59 billion cubic feet annually of natural gas produced right here in our region.

And, make no mistake, the demand for renewable energy is growing dramatically and the technology to harness it is rapidly improving. The 70 MW utility grade solar facility will use over 185,000 solar panels on 300 acres. It will be the largest solar generation facility in West Virginia and one of the largest in Appalachia. The solar installation will be constructed on our property in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In commenting on the project, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, offered, “[The project] is the perfect example of how our state continues to contribute to our national all-of-the-above energy strategy”. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, said, “I have always supported an all-of-the-above energy policy and am confident West Virginia workers will achieve this at Longview”. And, Governor Justice stated, “I’ve said many times that we need to be an ‘all-in’ energy state here in West Virginia”.

This project will be a first-of-its-kind, global model for clean fossil and renewable energy generation. Our operations will keep coal miners and gas workers employed while significantly expanding our state’s renewable portfolio.

Unfortunately, even though this will be one of the cleanest power facilities in the world, some extreme environmental organizations are working to prohibit development of the project. They have made it their mission to eradicate any and all fossil-fuel based electricity generation and to prevent new facilities from being built.

West Virginia has the bird in its hand right now, and we intend to make the Longview Power Clean Energy Center a reality that West Virginia can be proud of.

Report this Page