Mon Power gets $5M DOE grant to enhance electric service in rural West Virginia

West Virginia’s Mon Power has been awarded $5 million by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) to enhance electric service reliability for customers in rural West Virginia.

The funding, part of the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help rebuild more than 23 miles of power lines in Pocahontas, Braxton and Clay counties. The money will also be deployed to connect a two-mile alternate power line with a substation in Petersburg, Grant County.

The work will enable Mon Power and its sister company Potomac Edison, both owned by FirstEnergy, to restore service to customers faster. It will do this by connecting them to adjacent lines that serve as a backup power feed while repairs are made during an outage.

“We’re honored to receive this funding, and we look forward to applying it toward system improvements that will make a real difference for thousands of our customers in rural West Virginia, reducing the number and duration of outages they experience,” Jim Myers, vice president of FirstEnergy’s West Virginia Operations, said.

Company officials have engaged with city, county, state and nonprofit agencies about the proposal. Mon Power also plans to partner with community-based organizations in the affected counties to address workforce disparity gaps for historically under-resourced communities. Construction is expected to start in 2025.

Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 customers in seven counties in Maryland and 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

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