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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- More than 500,000 homes and businesses in West Virginia would see their electricity bills increase for up to a year or more to extend the life of a coal-fired power plant on the brink of closure under a proposal advancing through the state's utility regulatory agency.
West Virginia's Public Service Commission said this week it will allow Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison to move forward with finalizing a plan they project would cost 547,000 West Virginia ratepayers at least $36 million to cover the cost of keeping the two-unit, 1,300-megawatt Pleasants Power Station on the Ohio River open until May 2024.
The request, made at the urging of state Republican leadership, will allow the First Energy Corp. subsidiaries -- which currently own two other coal-fired plants in West Virginia -- to study the possibility of adding it to their power production holdings.
Otherwise, Pleasants Power Station's more than 150 employees will lose their jobs after its current May 31 closure date, and the plant will likely be demolished by its owner, Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management.
No surcharges can be implemented until the Public Service Commission approves a formal letter of intent, commissioners ruled Monday. But it allowed the companies to begin finalizing the agreement with ETEM and other stakeholders for commissioners' review.
The proposal comes as the federal government implements rules to limit the burning of polluting fossil fuels to combat the effects of climate change, causing coal-fired plants to shutter across the country.
\The companies project that home and business customers would likely see their monthly bills increase 2.2% -- an average of $2.67 a month for residential customers, and $8.44 for commercial customers.
Those charges would be in addition to the cost of electricity, which increased around $5 a month this year for residental customers in West Virginia after the PSC approved the companies' request for a more than $90 million surcharge, citing rising coal costs. Pleasants would likely not produce power for the companies' customers or anyone else while the companies assess purchasing it. Employees would stay on for plant maintenance.