West Virginia Business Summit kicks off with energy and economic announcement
August 30, 2023
White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. – The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and business summit kicked off today at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.
Governor Jim Justice delivered an opening address and announced that the Pleasants Power Station has been restarted after being shut down.
The power plant is run by Omnis Fuel Technologies and will be coal-fired until the company transitions the plant to hydrogen fuel. It will support approximately 600 jobs.
I am so excited to make this announcement today,” Justice said. “For the first time ever, the Pleasants Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant, is taking new life right in front of our eyes. Today, I am here to share with you that Omnis Fuel Technologies has re-started the Pleasants Power Plant and is on the grid today.
The plant was shut down and scheduled to be demolished until state and local leaders stepped in to save it.
“We drove down Route 2 with tears in our eyes as we watched the cooling towers producing,” Pleasants County Commission President Jay Powell said. “We also have the main stack producing now, too. Governor, thanks to you, thanks to the State of West Virginia, and thanks to the Good Lord above, we are doing something in West Virginia that no one else has done before. We can’t be more thankful than we are today.”
The summit runs until September 1st and focuses on networking, business opportunities, and creating economic growth in the state.
It features a lengthy roster of speakers including West Virginia University President Gordon Gee, Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner and Becky Sullivan, director of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.
Another major announcement is expected tomorrow morning.
Story by Micah Leith, WOAY