By David Beard, The Dominion Post
SHINNSTON – With the tall chimneys and cooling towers of the Harrison Power Station looming overhead, FirstEnergy leaders announced Thursday afternoon that subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison will be moving forward with their plan for a 1,200 megawatt natural gas combined cycle power plant to go online in 2031.
With legislators, local officials and business leaders gathered under a white tent, FirstEnergy President and CEO Brian Tierney talked about the Harrison plant, which came online in 1972.
“Harrison Power Station has been a cornerstone of reliable generation in West Virginia for more than five decades,”: he said. “Today we honor that legacy and build upon it.”
As The Dominion Post reported in early October, Mon Power and Potomac Energy filed their 10-year Integrated Resource Plan with the state Public Service Commission.
That IRP includes the natural gas plant. Tierney said the companies will file their plan to build the plant – at a site to be determined – with the PSC for its approval during the first quarter of 2026.
The plant will supply affordable, reliable and cleaner baseload power, he said, that will work in concert with existing energy structure “to create a a balanced and reliable energy mix that will leverage all of West Virginia’s abundant energy resources.”
