Surprisingly (OK, maybe it's not surprising!), the local newspaper has not reported that Longview Power has been in an increasingly tight financial squeeze in part due to operational problems at the power plant (apparently they have a serious boiler leak among other problems) and also in part due to the low market prices for electrical power. I'm attaching a recent article from a trade journal that reports on their woes, indicating that they are likely to file for a "package bankruptcy" this fall. I have several other articles that have appeared earlier about Longview's growing financial troubles and could send them to anybody who is interested.
As much as the folks at GenPower and elsewhere might like to blame their problems on "Obama's war on coal", it strikes me that their problems can pretty much be attributed to the lack of foresight by Longview investors in selecting coal as a fuel and errors made by the engineers who designed and built it...
-Sandy Liebhold
On 8/8/2013 9:31 PM, Andrew Liebhold wrote:
Surprisingly (OK, maybe it's not surprising!), the local newspaper has not reported that Longview Power has been in an increasingly tight financial squeeze in part due to operational problems at the power plant (apparently they have a serious boiler leak among other problems) and also in part due to the low market prices for electrical power. I'm attaching a recent article from a trade journal that reports on their woes, indicating that they are likely to file for a "package bankruptcy" this fall. I have several other articles that have appeared earlier about Longview's growing financial troubles and could send them to anybody who is interested.
Well, it's not people didn't raise the alarm about this exact issue before construction even began. And, as warned, Mon County taxpayers will be left holding the bag. This has occurred at other merchant plants during the past decade.
Julieann
On 8/8/2013 9:31 PM, Andrew Liebhold wrote:
Surprisingly (OK, maybe it's not surprising!), the local newspaper has not reported that Longview Power has been in an increasingly tight financial squeeze in part due to operational problems at the power plant (apparently they have a serious boiler leak among other problems) and also in part due to the low market prices for electrical power. I'm attaching a recent article from a trade journal that reports on their woes, indicating that they are likely to file for a "package bankruptcy" this fall. I have several other articles that have appeared earlier about Longview's growing financial troubles and could send them to anybody who is interested.
Too embarrassed, perhaps? Fox Business News has the article verbatim: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/08/30/power-company-longview-seeks-bank....
The Dunkard Creek Facebook page does as well. GenPower has a long track record of similar financial problems in the midwest. Longview was the first ever power plant project it completed. Is suspect that the Lauritas and the taxpayers of West Virginia will be left holding the bag on this one.
Julieann Wozniak
I too sad about the jobs to gloat that I warned the County Commission and School Board.
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I get the impression they will keep operating under bankruptcy, so jobs will still be there??????
On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 12:31 PM, Cindy Frich cindyfrich@yahoo.com wrote:
I too sad about the jobs to gloat that I warned the County Commission and School Board.
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From: * Julieann F. Wozniak jwozniak@windstream.net;
To: * Andrew Liebhold aliebhold@gmail.com;
Cc: * MVCAC@osenergy.org;
Subject: * Re: [MVCAC] Longview Power is likely to declare bankruptcy
Sent: * Fri, Aug 30, 2013 7:54:50 PM
On 8/8/2013 9:31 PM, Andrew Liebhold wrote:
Surprisingly (OK, maybe it's not surprising!), the local newspaper has not reported that Longview Power has been in an increasingly tight financial squeeze in part due to operational problems at the power plant (apparently they have a serious boiler leak among other problems) and also in part due to the low market prices for electrical power. I'm attaching a recent article from a trade journal that reports on their woes, indicating that they are likely to file for a "package bankruptcy" this fall. I have several other articles that have appeared earlier about Longview's growing financial troubles and could send them to anybody who is interested.
Too embarrassed, perhaps? Fox Business News has the article verbatim:http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/08/30/power-company-longview-seeks-bank....
The Dunkard Creek Facebook page does as well. GenPower has a long track record of similar financial problems in the midwest. Longview was the first ever power plant project it completed. Is suspect that the Lauritas and the taxpayers of West Virginia will be left holding the bag on this one.
Julieann Wozniak
MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@osenergy.org http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
One piece of information that has not been shared in their press releases is exactly what technical problems they are having with the plant. I understand that they have a problem with a leak in the boiler and noticed a leak detection service is one of their debtors. I also noticed that the entire plant was shut down a few months ago. I'm also wondering if they are having problems with the overland conveyor. When I've driven by it, it has always seemed like it is not working and they seem to be running coal trucks to and from the 4-West mine? According to one of the news articles, the plant is running under-capacity and not reliably enough to sell electricity on long-term contracts. Makes you wonder if there has been some mis-management somewhere?
On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Betty Wiley betty.w304@gmail.com wrote:
I get the impression they will keep operating under bankruptcy, so jobs will still be there??????
On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 12:31 PM, Cindy Frich cindyfrich@yahoo.comwrote:
I too sad about the jobs to gloat that I warned the County Commission and School Board.
Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
From: * Julieann F. Wozniak jwozniak@windstream.net;
To: * Andrew Liebhold aliebhold@gmail.com;
Cc: * MVCAC@osenergy.org;
Subject: * Re: [MVCAC] Longview Power is likely to declare bankruptcy
Sent: * Fri, Aug 30, 2013 7:54:50 PM
On 8/8/2013 9:31 PM, Andrew Liebhold wrote:
Surprisingly (OK, maybe it's not surprising!), the local newspaper has not reported that Longview Power has been in an increasingly tight financial squeeze in part due to operational problems at the power plant (apparently they have a serious boiler leak among other problems) and also in part due to the low market prices for electrical power. I'm attaching a recent article from a trade journal that reports on their woes, indicating that they are likely to file for a "package bankruptcy" this fall. I have several other articles that have appeared earlier about Longview's growing financial troubles and could send them to anybody who is interested.
Too embarrassed, perhaps? Fox Business News has the article verbatim:http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/08/30/power-company-longview-seeks-bank....
The Dunkard Creek Facebook page does as well. GenPower has a long track record of similar financial problems in the midwest. Longview was the first ever power plant project it completed. Is suspect that the Lauritas and the taxpayers of West Virginia will be left holding the bag on this one.
Julieann Wozniak
MVCAC mailing list MVCAC@osenergy.org http://wvcompletestreets.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
On 8/31/2013 10:48 PM, Andrew Liebhold wrote:
One piece of information that has not been shared in their press releases is exactly what technical problems they are having with the plant. I understand that they have a problem with a leak in the boiler and noticed a leak detection service is one of their debtors. I also noticed that the entire plant was shut down a few months ago. I'm also wondering if they are having problems with the overland conveyor. When I've driven by it, it has always seemed like it is not working and they seem to be running coal trucks to and from the 4-West mine? According to one of the news articles, the plant is running under-capacity and not reliably enough to sell electricity on long-term contracts. Makes you wonder if there has been some mis-management somewhere?
The plant was shut down until last week, and it was quite a relief not being able to see the billowing pollution cloud from my street in Bobtown, where we are treated to direct line of sight. The parking lot at the plant was empty and there were no dust clouds blowing across Fort Martin Road from the bag house. Dust emissions have been a constant problem, making nighttime driving visibility and issue, when it is Camry versus speeding coal truck, and I crew up among coal trucks...but these guys unnerve me. Since Longview is the sole user of the coal produced at 4 West, the mine was also idled. I imagine the conveyor is expensive to operate and maintain. Truck transport is probably cheaper; the drivers are "independent contractors" after all.
In reference to a previous email, I suspect that waste is being injected into the old Warwick mine that Mepco is running as a training center. It was connected to Shannopin through an accident or a deliberate act back in the 1990s, and water from Shannopin was flowing freely into Warwick. As for Dunkard Creek being cleaned up, Mepco has been using it as a private cesspool for at least a decade, with PADEP's approval. Now would be a good time for PennFuture to sue. Again.
And I'm not gloating, although not many PA residents work at Mepco. My late father was a 50+ year man at J&L Steel's coal division, which operated Shannopin until it declared bankruptcy to avoid it's environmental and pension obligations. Emissions from Fort Martin and Hatfield killed my mom, who had a quarter of a lung that still functioned when she died in Mon General on the 3rd of March. What I am is highly cynical and bitterly divorced from coal. Ask about "Scrubby." Some older folks might remember him.
Julieann Wozniak
I am too sad about the jobs to gloat that I warned the County Commission and School Board. Recall that I was the ONLY elected official to speak against GenPower's PILOT project. Sad.
Cindy Frich
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Andrew Liebhold -
Betty Wiley -
Cindy Frich -
Julieann F. Wozniak