Longview Filing for Bankruptcy
Judge must approve reorganization plans
Morgantown Dominion Post
30 August 2013
By Ben Conley and Alex Lang
The company overseeing Longview Power Plant has filed for
bankruptcy, but will be allowed to reorganize its business.
The filing was done Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
District of Delaware. Longview Intermediate Holdings C, LLC filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Under Chapter 11, a business can develop a reorganization plan,
which must be approved by a judge.
Longview Power Plant recently opened and began operations in
Maidsville. The power plant is a 700 megawatt supercritical
coal-fired power facility and one of the most efficient, with
lowest air emissions in the country, according to a company news
release.
The company lists more than a billion dollars in both assets and
liabilities in the filing.
According to the filing, the company estimates it will pay back
unsecured creditors. The unsecured creditors are the last group to
receive money in Chapter 11. Unsecured debtors are not guaranteed
to receive their full claims.
Included in the filing is a list of the top 50 unsecured debtors.
The largest unsecured debtor is CONSOL, with a claim amount of
nearly $800,000. The Monongalia County Sheriff ’s Tax Office is
the third highest, with a claim of about $310,000.
Monongalia County entered into a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT)
agreement with Longview in 2008, which set up a series of annual
payments to be paid to the county instead of paying actual
property taxes. The payments were scheduled over the next 30
years, increasing annually.
Monongalia County Commissioner Bill Bartolo said representatives
of Longview contacted the commission office Friday morning to
confirm the bankruptcy filing.
“There was a rumor floating around,” Bartolo said. “They claim it
will not impact the payment in lieu of taxes. Of course that’s a
concern because that impacts the county as well as the board of
education.”
The annual payments are divided between the county and the board
of education, based on the levy rate set by each.
Commissioner Tom Bloom said he was concerned, not only about the
PILT, but also about the potential for people losing work.
“Being realistic, if you’re going to have to restructure, it’s
going to have to come from somewhere,” he said. “I guess we’ll
just have to wait and see.”
Bartolo agreed.
“You can speculate about what if, but at this point, it’s just not
prudent to do that.”
Brickstreet Insurance is owed almost $275,000. Forquer Contracting
LLC out of Pentress is owed about $142,000. GEC INC out of
Bruceton Mills is owed about $120,000. JL Pretzel Contracting LLC,
also out of Bruceton Mills, is owed just more than $26,000.
Diggler’s Construction LLC out of Kingwood has a claim of $25,200.
Several affiliates are also listed in the filing including
Longview Power, LLC, Alternate Energy, LLC, Border Energy, LLC,
Coresco, LLC, Dana Mining Co. of Pennsylvania, LLC, Dana Mining
Co., LLC, Longview Intermediate Holdings C, LLC, Mepco Conveyor,
LLC, Mepco Holdings, LLC, Mepco Intermediate Holdings A, LLC,
Mepco Intermediate Holdings, LLC, Mepco, LLC and Shannopin
Materials, LLC.
Mepco operates three active underground coal mines and one active
surface mine, according to the company.
Chrysler went through the same type of bankruptcy. It filed in
2009 and continues to operate and still does business today.