Energy Construction
Private Infrastructure Investor Giant Blackstone Funds $1.2B West Virginia Gas Power Plant
The project was originally proposed in 2017 as a 579-MW, $615M combined-cycle plant, above, by the Energy Solutions Consortium. Development halted in 2017 due to litigation, but the project was revived and expanded in 2023 by its current developers that include private infrastructure investment giant Blackstone.
Construction is underway on an estimated $1.2 billion combined-cycle natural gas power plant near Clarksburg, W.Va., the first of that type in the state, which is being financed by private infrastructure investor and asset manager Blackstone through its Blackstone Energy Transition Partners unit.
The 625-MW Wolf Summit Energy plant, which will feature GE Vernova gas turbines and includes partners Kindle Energy and Wolf Summit Energy to manage and operate the facility, is fully contracted and financed following its Nov. 13 final investment decision, according to Blackstone.
County commissioners in 2024 also authorized Equitrans Midstream to survey Harrison County-owned land for a natural gas pipeline to the site.
It is not clear if other partners have any financial stake in the project, which has received state and local incentives, including a 30-year county exemption from paying local property taxes.
Plant site preparation, including controlled blasting, is underway, with operations expected to begin by 2027, said Blackstone, adding that it expected to create about 500 jobs during construction. A Blackstone spokesperson declined to respond to an ENR query on contractors selected for the project.
Blackstone acquired last year a majority stake in Plano, Texas-based Westwood Professional Services Inc., an engineering firm described as specializing in wind and solar energy, energy storage, power delivery, EV infrastructure, public infrastructure projects and other construction. The firm ranks at No. 77 on ENR's Top Design Firms list, reporting $412.8 million in 2024 revenue, about 44% in the power sector and 39% in building construction. Dean Palumbo, a former Stantec senior vice president, was named in August as Westwood chief operating officer.
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, a Virginia-based co-op with about 1.5 million customers through its 11 member-owner firms in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, including data centers and other industrial facilities, agreed in July to buy the power that will be generated by the Wolf Summit plant.
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“Helping meet the rising demand for electricity from AI and other areas is among our highest conviction investment themes at Blackstone,” said Bilal Khan, a Blackstone senior managing director, in a statement.
Originally proposed in 2017 by the Energy Solutions Consortium as a 579-MW combined-cycle plant and a $615-million investment, project development halted following a lawsuit over air permits and financing issues, according to local media reports. The consortium withdrew from the project. Wolf Summit Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric, subsequently revived and expanded the project in 2023. The Blackstone spokesperson also declined to say if the plant will be co-located with a data center or if it is being designed to also use hydrogen-blended fuel.
Blackstone, based in New York City, is considered the largest investor in global data centers and AI infrastructure, according to a ranking by Data Centre, an online sector publication. The company also announced in September its $1-billion acquisition of Hill Top Energy Center, a 620-MW gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, and a similarly valued purchase in January of Potomac Energy Center, a 774-MW gas-fired power plant in Virginia. Blackstone said it has been in "late stage development or construction" of about 1.6 GW of new-build U.S. power generation capacity since early 2022 and that its Blackstone Energy Transition Partners unit has "committed over $27 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry."
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) announced in August the state's 50 by 50 generation plan, set to triple base load electric capacity to 50 GW by 2050 from the current 16 GW. The plan includes eased regulatory hurdles for power producers and would focus mostly on “strategic development” of coal, natural gas and nuclear energy sources.
