BEDINGTON, W.Va. — The application for a 650-acre solar energy generating facility in Bedington will be the subject of an upcoming evidentiary hearing at the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The hearing is set for March 21st before the state Public Service Commission in Charleston regarding the potential solar-energy producing facility, which is planned for the former Dupont manufacturing site in Berkeley County.
“On December 8, 2023 Bedington Energy Facility, LLC (Bedington Energy)
filed an Application for a Solar Siting Certificate (Application) to construct a 100-
megawatt solar generating facility (Project) in Berkeley County, West Virginia as
an exempt wholesale generator (EWG). The total acreage to be leased and/or
purchased for the Project is approximately 1,037 acres while the Project’s solar
facilities and related infrastructure will be contained in a developed area of up to
650 acres,” according to the Commission Order from the PSC.
The PSC reports the estimated total Project investment is approximately $135 million.
Documents from the Public Service Commission lay out the time line for evidence and testimony, but add “The evidentiary hearing in this matter may be cancelled in the absence of
substantial protest. Interested persons intending on attending the hearing should monitor the Commission web docket.”
Data Science Firm FirmoGraphs detailed the plans in its Power Generation and Supply Market Recap for December 2023.
“Bedington Energy Facility, LLC, a subsidiary of Torch Clean Energy, submitted filings on December 08, 2023, to the West Virginia Public Service Commission for the proposed Bedington Energy Facility. The Project is a 100-megawatt (MW) solar facility totaling 250,000 modules. It will be constructed primarily on the Potomac River Works Site, a former Dupont manufacturing center on the Potomac River in Berkeley County, West Virginia. The construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2024 and conclude in the second quarter of 2026. According to the 2023 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), Solar projects will cost $1,290 per kW. Based on this value, FirmoGraphs estimates the Project will cost $129 million.”
The PSC provided The Panhandle News Network with the Commission Order:
