West Virginia Enters New Energy Era with Completion of Solar Site

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Jan 04, 2024, 13:33 ET

View a video of Mon Power's solar site construction from start to finish

FAIRMONT, W.Va., Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) subsidiary Mon Power rang in the new year by celebrating the completion of its solar site at Fort Martin Power Station in Maidsville, West Virginia, during a ribbon cutting event on Jan. 4. The site is the first of five solar sites Mon Power and its sister company Potomac Edison have planned to help bolster and diversify the region's energy mix.

Public officials and entities that subscribed to receive a large portion of the energy generated at the Fort Martin solar site toured the facility and met with company leadership during the event. View photos on the company's Flickr page.

Nearly 50,000 solar panels are now generating renewable energy at the approximately 80-acre Fort Martin site, which can produce up to 18.9 megawatts (MW) of solar energy per hour. One MW of solar energy powers a national average of 173 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Jim Myers, President of West Virginia Operations: "We're proud to have achieved our goal of completing this solar site using local union workers. It is important to have this voluntary option available to customers, as renewable energy is a large economic driver in both attracting new industry to West Virginia and keeping existing companies that now require a portion of their electricity to come from renewable sources."

Mon Power hired more than 100 local union workers, primarily from the Morgantown and Parkersburg areas, to complete the work at the Fort Martin solar site. Additionally, the solar panels, racking systems and supporting electrical equipment were made in the United States.

Watch a video about the labor workers and resources used to complete the solar site.

Ultimately, the companies' five sites are expected to collectively generate up to 50 megawatts of renewable energy. In August, the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the companies' request to construct the Fort Martin solar site and two others in Rivesville, Marion County (5.5 MW), and Marlowe, Berkeley County (5.7 MW). Construction of the sites is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.

The companies plan to seek final approval from the PSC later this year to build the additional two solar sites in Davis, Tucker County (11.5 MW), and Weirton, Hancock County (8.4 MW) once customers subscribe to the energy they will produce. The companies expect to complete construction of the final two sites by the end of 2025.

To subscribe or find out more about the solar program, Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers in West Virginia can submit their information through the website at firstenergycorp.com/WVSolar or by calling 1-800-505-7283.

Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Follow Mon Power at mon-power.com, on X, formerly known as Twitter, @MonPowerWV, and on Facebook at facebook.com/MonPowerWV.

Potomac Edison serves about 275,000 customers in seven counties in Maryland and 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Follow Potomac Edison at potomacedison.com, on X @PotomacEdison and on Facebook at facebook.com/PotomacEdison.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.