Fort Martin power station

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Fort Martin power station is an operating power station of at least 1152-megawatts (MW) in Maidsville, Monongalia, West Virginia, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Fort Martin power station Maidsville, Monongalia, West Virginia, United States 39.710364, -79.927164 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 39.710364, -79.927164

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 operating coal: bituminous 576 supercritical 1967 2035 (planned)[1]
Unit 2 operating coal: bituminous 576 supercritical 1968 2035 (planned)[1]

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Monongahela Power Co [100%] FirstEnergy Corp [100.0%]
Unit 2 Monongahela Power Co [100%] FirstEnergy Corp [100.0%]

Planned retirement

In February 2024, Mon Power's parent company, First Energy, stated that they expected an "end of useful life date" of 2035 for the Fort Martin power station.[2][3] At the same time, the company announced that they had abandoned their pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% before 2030. According to First Energy's "Climate and Position Strategy" on their website, "our 2030 interim target was dependent on GHG reductions at Fort Martin and Harrison [power station] that could be realized only through a meaningful reduction in operation of these two plants prior to 2030."[3] The company referenced West Virginia's coal-reliant energy policy as one challenge in achieving their 2030 target.[4][3]

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 7,726,962 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions: 87,565 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions: 10,090 tons
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions: 416 lb.

Bond Sales

As of December 17, 2009, the Allegheny Energy was about to close on bond sales that would pay for installing a scrubber at its Fort Martin Power Station. Total bond sales are to exceed $85 million.[5]

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Fort Martin power station

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[6] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[7]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Fort Martin power station

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 150 $1,100,000,000
Heart attacks 240 $26,000,000
Asthma attacks 2,300 $120,000
Hospital admissions 110 $2,600,000
Chronic bronchitis 88 $39,000,000
Asthma ER visits 110 $41,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 (PDF) https://s27.q4cdn.com/655807321/files/doc_financials/2023/q4/4Q23_Investor-Factbook_Final.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Annual Investor FactBook," First Energy, February 8, 2024
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Climate Position and Strategy," First Energy, accessed February 29, 2024
  4. "FirstEnergy forges ahead even as former execs are indicted," Energy News Network, February 15, 2024
  5. Allegheny Energy, "Allegheny prices bonds for plant scrubber", The Register-Herald, December 17, 2009.
  6. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  7. "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.