American Electric Power has reached agreements to acquire the coal-fired Longview Power Plant near Maidsville, Monongalia County, and Mountain State Clean Energy combined-cycle natural gas project development site near the plant, an AEP spokesperson indicated to the Gazette-Mail Friday afternoon.
AEP spokesperson Tammy Ridout did not disclose terms or conditions of the agreements with Mountain State Energy Holdings, parent company of Longview Power and Mountain State Clean Energy. The agreements signal a long-term commitment to fossil fuel-fired power as a response to projected energy demand growth.
Ridout noted in an email that the assets are “strategically located to help support growing energy demand in the region†and would strengthen what she called “AEP’s ability to provide reliable, around-the-clock power at affordable prices.â€
Ridout said the proposed acquisitions by AEP “do not directly impact Appalachian Power customers’ rates†when asked by the Gazette-Mail Friday whether there will be related rate impacts for customers of Appalachian Power or Wheeling Power, both AEP subsidiaries.
The Longview Power Plant is a 710-megawatt coal-fired generation facility that began operating in 2011.
In 2020, Longview Power filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2013. In August 2020, Longview Power announced it had emerged from bankruptcy, reporting it had extinguished more than $350 million of loans and was “well capitalized,†with new equity owners providing a $40 million, five-year term loan to support its operations.
Longview Power had planned to locate a 1,200-megawatt natural gas combined-cycle plant adjacent to the its coal-fired plant before changing its name for that venture in 2021 to Mountain State Clean Energy LLC. In November 2024, the West Virginia Public Service Commission granted Mountain State Clean Energy and fellow Longview spinoff Mountain State Renewables LLC a five-year extension of siting certificates for the planned gas plant and a proposed 70-megawatt utility-scale solar project, respectively.
The extension set April 3, 2029, and April 3, 2034, deadlines to start and end construction, respectively.
Ridout said the Longview Power Plant will be owned and operated by AEP’s power competitive generation business. Ridout called Mountain State Clean Energy site permitting for a future combined-cycle natural gas plant “key†and noted that the transactions are subject to required federal regulatory approvals.
“We’re pleased that our parent company American Electric Power plans to invest in West Virginia’s deep coal roots by signing an agreement to acquire the Longview Power Plant near Morgantown,†Brian Abraham, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer, said in a statement provided by Ridout.
Abraham, a longtime former chief of staff for Jim Justice in the coal magnate’s roles as governor and United States senator, said coal “has helped power West Virginia and our nation for generations and has supported families, communities and economic growth across our state.â€
Abraham said the plant “demonstrates how advanced coal generation can continue to play an important role in delivering the 24/7, reliable energy needed to support growth and customers in the region.â€
AEP said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday that AEP Generation Resources, Inc., a competitive AEP subsidiary in the company's Generation & Marketing segment had in July 2026 entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the Longview Power Plant subject to approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other required governmental approvals. The filing cited “growing energy demand in the region.â€
AEP Generation Resources is acquiring the Longview Power Plant as a merchant plant, Ridout said, adding that AEP expects to submit a related FERC filing in August.
AEP reported it expects the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or first quarter of 2027, although the timing and ultimate completion of the deal are subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
Ridout said AEP would work with the Longview team in the coming months as it moves through regulatory approvals to "finalize the transaction and plan for a smooth transition." Ridout also said the company does not expect "any significant workforce changes as a result of this transaction."
Mountain State Energy Holdings did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
APCo embraced coal plant life extensions at PSC hearing  Â
The planned acquisition of the Longview Power Plant would add to an AEP coal-fired fleet in West Virginia comprised of Appalachian Power’s John E. Amos plant in Putnam County, the Mountaineer plant in Mason County, and the Wheeling Power and Kentucky Power-owned Mitchell plant in Marshall County.
During a July 21 PSC evidentiary hearing on a long-term energy portfolio plan filed by Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, PSC Chairman and coal-fired power proponent Charlotte Lane asked Robert Jessee, vice president of generation at Appalachian Power, whether he was satisfied that the company is “doing everything you can†to keep its coal-fired plants running “even beyond 2040,†what it has projected as the retirement date for its Amos and Mountaineer plants, respectively, along with the Marshall plant.
“Yes, ma’am, I truly am,†Jessee answered, citing what he called a “robust management process†that consists of inspections during outages and knowledge of whether to “reset the life†of plant components versus the option to “just maintain by maintenance.â€
Maintaining its plant facilities “appropriately,†Jessee responded, will allow the plants to keep operating “well beyond the 2040 timeline†that he said is “on the books for retirement.â€
Subsequently prompted by Lane, Jessee agreed with the PSC chairman’s opinion that “it is important that we keep the coal plants running to the maximum extent possible and for as long as possible.â€
“[I]t’s very important that they are available, and then when they are operating, they are reliable,†Jessee said.
But Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power coal units have consistently operated at rates far below what the PSC has set as a 69% capacity factor goal for them.
The average monthly residential utility cost for Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power for 1,000 kilowatt-hours rose from $55.28 in 2005 to $169.69 in 2024, according to PSC data — a 207% increase.
Energy experts and ratepayer advocates have said a 69% capacity factor target set by the PSC for West Virginia’s coal-fired plants in recent years has encouraged uneconomic use of the plants that cost utility customers.
Cathy Kunkel, a consultant with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a Valley City, Ohio-based energy market analysis firm, said in written testimony the companies’ long-term energy resource plans failed to reflect greater maintenance and capital spending typically needed to combat coal plant reliability declines and forced outage rates that increase with age.
The planned acquisition of the Mountain State Clean Energy gas-fired site follows a pending proposal from FirstEnergy to build a $2.47 billion 1,200-megawatt gas-fired plant of its own in Monongalia County near its coal-fired Fort Martin Power Station, also near Maidsville. FirstEnergy has attributed its plan to projected power demand growth driven by an expected but not confirmed 1,012-megawatt data center project that would increase customer rates.
FirstEnergy firms get rate hike while AEP expandsÂ
Emmett Pepper, policy director of Energy Efficient West Virginia, said in an emailed statement Friday FirstEnergy should build its planned $2.47 billion gas plant “on their own dime†rather than seeking to shift the cost of building its planned gas plant to ratepayers.
“If AEP can take on the risk of buying a 15-year-old coal plant, FirstEnergy can take on the risk of building a new gas plant, without ratepayers being on the hook for it.†Pepper said.
FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison have claimed a surcharge it proposes for their customers is essential to their plan to build the new gas plant in addition to three solar projects pegged to cost another $182 million.
The companies are proposing increases in the early years of a planned surcharge that would increase until commercial operation allows revenues from energy, capacity and solar renewable energy credits to flow to them. A typical residential customer’s bills would increase by an annual average of about 2.3% over the next five years while the plant is being built.
The PSC on Friday announced that, in a separate case underscoring Mon Power and Potomac Edison ratepayers’ increasing burden, it has approved a $37.9 million increase in rates to kick in Saturday followed by a $37.6 million rate hike on June 1, 2027 — a move accompanied by a $3.65 monthly increase in average residential rates and a 1.7% increase for commercial rates this year, followed next year by a $4.01 residential rate rise and a 1.6% climb for commercial classes.
The PSC acknowledged that its own utility staff and an expert witness for its independent Consumer Advocate Division charged with representing residential ratepayers opposed the plan.
But the PSC in a statement claimed the two-part plan was “the economically preferable recovery structure,†saying it would minimize how much customers would pay and the current value of future payments to be made while avoiding a larger future payment burden.
Pepper called for any proposal for Appalachian Power or Wheeling Power customers to buy energy or capacity from the Longview Power plant to be closely scrutinized.
"As always, customers should benefit from the regional grid by utilizing the least-cost power and AEP stockholders should not get sweetheart deals on the backs of West Virginia ratepayers," Pepper said.
AEP on Thursday released a 2026-2030 company outlook that projected an annual operational earnings growth rate of 7-9%, 10-13% total annual expected shareholder return and contracted load growth through 2030 of 69 gigawatts — up from 63 disclosed in the first quarter of 2026 after adding 6 gigawatts of signed load agreements during the second quarter, mainly in Texas.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, AEP reported planning to invest $78 billion from 2026 through 2030 to improve customer service and support energy needs expected to expand. The company said it has 5.6 million customers across 11 states.
