WV Electric Generation Up in October
The State Journal
27 December 2012
By Jim Ross
West Virginia's electricity producers saw an increase in
production in October, aided in part by the December 2011 startup
of the Longview power station.
According to preliminary figures released by the Energy
Information Administration on Dec. 27, West Virginia's electric
power industry produced 5,578,529 megawatt hours in October, up
about 14 percent from the 4,877,226 Mwh produced in October 2011.
The Longview plant itself produced about 414,177 Mwh in October,
according to EIA figures.
Most of the electricity generated in the state was produced by
coal. The three largest coal-burning generators were owned by
subsidiaries of American Electric Power. They were the John E.
Amos power plant in Putnam County, the Mitchell power plant in
Marshall County and the Mountaineer plant in Mason County. Next on
the list were three FirstEnergy stations – Pleasants, Harrison and
Fort Martin – followed by Dominion's Mount Storm power station and
Longview, which is owned by GenPower.
Wind was the second-largest power source in the Mountain State in
October, led by NedPower's Mount Storm plant, according to the
EIA. The five wind stations, though, produced less than 2 percent
of the electricity generated by burning coal.
Hydropower was third on the power source list, followed by natural
gas and petroleum.