Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy, have completed their third utility-scale solar site in West Virginia to help meet the state’s electricity needs. More than 17,000 solar panels are now producing up to 5.75 MW of renewable power at the Marlowe site in Berkeley County.
The new solar facility is situated on approximately 36 acres of company-owned property along Interstate 81 and the Potomac River. The site was previously an ash landfill for the former R. Paul Smith Power Station. In 2022, after harvesting more than three million tons of ash for use in cement manufacturing, FirstEnergy successfully completed the closure of the landfill, paving the way for its redevelopment as part of the companies’ solar program.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison used 54 local union workers for construction at the site.
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 MW of solar generation facilities to help meet the state’s electricity needs. The program involves the siting and development of solar projects on brownfield or impacted industrial properties while encouraging economic development in West Virginia, as a number of companies require that a portion of the electricity they purchase be generated by renewable sources.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison plan to develop a total of five solar projects that will comprise 50 MW of solar generation. The companies completed their first solar project at Fort Martin Power Station (18.9 MW) in early 2024, and their Rivesville solar site (5.5 MW) came online last fall. In total, the companies now have 30 MW of solar capacity.
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.
News item from Mon Power and Potomac Edison
