Mon Power and Potomac Edison complete
27-acre solar site in Rivesville
FAIRMONT, W.Va., Oct. 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power and Potomac Edison,
subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), have completed
their second utility-scale solar site in West Virginia, less than a year after
energizing their first solar site at Fort Martin Power Station in
Maidsville.
Nearly 14,000 solar panels are now producing up to 5.5 megawatts
of clean, renewable power at the Rivesville site in Marion County to help meet the state's
electricity needs. One megawatt of solar energy powers a national
average of 173 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries
Association.
Aerial photos and drone video footage of
the Rivesville solar site are available to view or download
on FirstEnergy's Flickr
page.
The new solar facility is situated on approximately 27 acres of
company-owned property along Morgan Ridge Road. The site had gone
unused since the Rivesville Power Station was deactivated in 2012.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison used 63 local union workers for
construction at the site, and the solar panels, racking system
steel and supporting electrical equipment were made in the United States.
Dan Rossero, Vice President of FirstEnergy's West
Virginia Generation: "Our solar projects create construction
jobs and support economic growth by helping West Virginia recruit and retain employers. We
are pleased to reach another important milestone in our solar
program and are excited about the interest we continue to receive
from subscribers."
The companies' West Virginia
solar program supports a 2020 bill passed by the West Virginia
Legislature that authorizes electric companies to own and operate
up to 200 megawatts of solar generation facilities to help meet the
state's electricity needs. The addition of new renewable generation
also encourages economic development in West Virginia, as a growing number of
companies require that a portion of the electricity they purchase
be generated by renewable sources.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison are developing five solar projects
that will total 50 megawatts of renewable solar generation, the
first phase of 200 megawatts the companies plan to develop over
time. The companies completed their first solar project at
Fort Martin Power Station (18.9 megawatts) in January and began
construction this fall on a third project located in
Berkeley County.
Combined, the five projects will create more than 87,000 solar
renewable energy credits (SRECs) available for purchase by
customers who support renewable energy in West Virginia. SRECs are certificates that
represent the environmental attributes of solar power and prove
solar energy was generated on the purchasers' behalf. For every
megawatt hour of solar renewable electricity generated, one SREC is
produced.
Since the inception of the solar program, 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. The cost to purchase SRECs
through the program is 4 cents per
kilowatt hour in addition to normal rates. To subscribe or find out
more about the solar program, Mon Power and Potomac Edison
customers in West Virginia can
visit firstenergycorp.com/WVsolar or call 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 @MonPowerWV, and on Facebook at
facebook.com/MonPowerWV.
Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 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 electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving more than six million 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.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.