A new 36-acre solar facility in Marlowe, Berkeley County, West Virginia, has begun generating renewable energy, advancing efforts to meet the state’s electricity needs. Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp., have completed the site, which now operates more than 17,000 solar panels capable of producing up to 5.75 megawatts of power. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, one megawatt of solar energy can supply electricity to an average of 173 homes nationally.
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The Marlowe site sits on repurposed land that was previously used as an ash landfill for the former R. Paul Smith Power Station. FirstEnergy completed the closure of the landfill in 2022 after harvesting over three million tons of ash for cement manufacturing. The solar project utilized 54 local union workers during construction, and all solar panels, racking system steel, and supporting electrical equipment were sourced from the United States.
This initiative is part of the companies’ broader West Virginia solar program, established under a 2020 state law that allows electric companies to own and operate up to 200 megawatts of solar generation facilities. The program targets brownfield or industrial sites for redevelopment, aiming to encourage economic growth and meet increasing demand from businesses that prioritize renewable energy sources.
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Mon Power and Potomac Edison are developing five solar projects, expected to deliver a total of 50 megawatts of generation capacity. So far, 30 megawatts are operational, including facilities at the Fort Martin Power Station and Rivesville. The program will also generate over 87,000 solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), available for purchase by customers in support of renewable energy. Participating residential and commercial customers, including the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the town of Harpers Ferry, can subscribe for an additional 4 cents per kilowatt hour.
Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from FirstEnergy Corp. press release.
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