FirstEnergy Corp. has won a battle with environmentalists to burn wood and agricultural waste at an Ohio power plant and get state credit for it as “renewable.” In a quick and comment-free vote Wednesday, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved a 12-page order sweeping aside arguments from environmentalists and a wind industry trade group that burning trees to make power is not sustainable.
The order certifies the R. E. Burger power plant in Shadyside, on the Ohio River near Wheeling, as a renewable energy facility. The plant produces 312 MW and plans to switch from coal to an 80% biomass/20% coal fuel supply, which would make it one of the largest utility-owned facilities in the nation using biomass to produce power.
The fuel switch is part of a 2005 agreement with federal agencies concerning long-term Clean Air Act violations. By law, Ohio’s utilities must generate or buy 12.5% of the power they sell in Ohio by 2025 through renewable technologies.
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