RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – The Public Service Commission today approved the first siting certificate for a solar exempt wholesale electric generating facility in West Virginia.
Raleigh Solar I, LLC plans to construct a 90-megawatt solar generating facility in Raleigh County. The project will consist of approximately 250,000 individual panels, will be located on 529 acres of primarily undeveloped, wooded ridgetops, and is expected to cost approximately $90 million. The siting certificate is conditioned upon Raleigh Solar receiving all necessary permits and approvals. The PSC is requiring Raleigh Solar to commence continuous construction within five years, complete construction within 10 years, and to enter into a decommissioning agreement with the Raleigh County Commission with an initial minimum $50,000 security.
Raleigh Solar and the West Virginia State Building Trades and Construction Council, AFL-CIO filed a Memorandum of Agreement with the PSC ensuring the project would be built by local union workers and that the project would have a substantial positive impact on the local economy and local employment.
This is the first application for a siting since the West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 583 earlier this year, providing an expedited process for solar exempt wholesale generators to receive siting certificates from the PSC.
More information on the case and the complete Order may be obtained from the PSC website: www.psc.state.wv.us by referencing Case No. 20-0431-E-SCS.
