October 18, 2018

FirstEnergy’s Allegheny Energy Supply (AES) subsidiary notified PJM Interconnection (PJM), the regional transmission organization, that it will extend the notice of the deactivation of the Pleasants Power Station to June 1, 2022, allowing the plant to continue operating more than three years longer than previously announced.

Earlier this year, FirstEnergy filed notice that the 1,300-megawatt (MW) plant would close on January 1, 2019, if a buyer could not be found. The new June 1, 2022 date of proposed deactivation allows the plant to remain in operation until a transfer of the plant from AES to FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) is complete.

In April 2018, FirstEnergy announced that it had reached an agreement in principle to transfer ownership of Pleasants Power Station to creditors in the bankruptcy of two subsidiaries, FES and its subsidiaries, and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC). The agreement was approved by the bankruptcy court in late September. The settlement agreement was an important milestone, intended to fully release FirstEnergy and related parties from all claims.

“This extended deactivation notice provides for potentially three-and-a-half years of additional operation for the Pleasants Power Station and its 160 employees,” said Dan Rossero, vice president, FirstEnergy Fleet Operations. “It also provides significantly more time for evaluation of the long-term plan for the Station prior to deactivation.”