COMMENTS DUE ~ Should the PLEASANT$ POWER $TATION be Bailed Out at This Time, in This Way?

DON’T LET FIRST ENERGY SELL US OUT! ~~~ TAKE ACTION BY APRIL 14TH

From the West Virginians for Energy Freedom & Others, April 7, 2023

If you are a Mon Power or Potomac Edison customer, we need your voice now! Submit your comments to the West Virginia Public Service Commission opposing the Pleasants Power Station bailout before April 14th.

First Energy is scheming to keep Pleasants Power Station open by forcing it on ratepayers like you. Not only is it an out-of-date, coal-fired power station that was actually scheduled to close in 2019, but even First Energy acknowledges that the plant is expensive to operate. The worst part is that we don’t even need the plant – we have enough power being generated in-state already to meet our needs!

First Energy has proposed that Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers pay more to keep the plant open another year while government officials decide whether the plant is to be permanently subsidized by ratepayers. If the plant doesn’t operate during that year, most families’ bills will go up by about $36 a year – but if the plant operates, bills will go up even more.

The Pleasants plant can already sell power into a regional power market, where it has to compete with other power plants. But the plant is no longer competitive, and the plant is facing serious environmental liabilities. First Energy wants ratepayers to subsidize the plant even though customers don’t need the plant, and even though First Energy’s own analysis acknowledges the plant’s many problems.

Worse, First Energy’s proposal would protect its own shareholders, while forcing West Virginia customers to bear all of the costs and risks. If First Energy’s scheme is successful, customers would be saddled with potentially massive costs and liabilities.

We’ve been here before. In 2017, Mon Power requested to buy the plant from another First Energy subsidiary. The PSC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission both recognized the proposal as a risky deal for West Virginians. And as before, this current Pleasants bailout proposal would raise customer bills.

TAKE ACTION ~ Please sign the petition below and add some personal information* about how increased electric bills would affect your family or business. Personalize your letter: tell the Commissioners how increased rates will harm you and the people and businesses you love. Tell them why this is important to you.

*Data collected will be shared with the West Virginians for Energy Freedom coalition.