Mon Power’s Fort Martin solar plant, West Virginia’s largest solar generation facility to date and situated on approximately 94 acres adjacent to Fort Martin power plant, came online January 4, 2024. Located near Maidsville in Monongalia County, just south of the Pennsylvania border, the plant has an array of 50,000 solar panels and generates approximately 19 megawatts of electricity. Mon Power officials said that equipment used to construct the site, including solar panels, racking systems and electrical equipment was sourced in the U.S. and local building and trade labor is being employed. The power is fed into the PJM grid. The National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown will purchase power from the plant via a power purchase agreement.

The solar project is being developed as a result of a “2020 bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature that authorizes electric utilities to own and operate up to 200 megawatts of solar generation facilities.” West Virginia State Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, a supporter of renewable energy projects in West Virginia, notes that many businesses require access to solar energy and “they won’t come to West Virginia unless they can get it.” The Fort Martin solar plant is one of five solar sites either in operation, under construction, or being planned by Mon Power and Potomac Edison.