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.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.