Blackstone Invests $1.2 Billion to Build First Natural Gas Power Plant in West Virginia
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has approved a $1.2 billion investment to build West Virginia’s first combined-cycle natural gas power plant, a 600-MW facility expected to create 500 construction jobs and meet rising AI-driven electricity demand.
NEW YORK (P&GJ) — Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, through its affiliated funds, announced a $1.2 billion investment to build Wolf Summit Energy, a 600-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas power plant in Harrison County, West Virginia — the state’s first-ever facility of its kind.
The project reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) last week, paving the way for construction to begin. Wolf Summit is fully contracted to serve Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), which supplies power to about 1.5 million residents across Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
The new plant is expected to create 500 construction jobs and stimulate local economic development, while providing reliable power to meet growing electricity demand driven by AI and data center expansion.
“Helping meet the rising demand for electricity from AI and other areas is among our highest conviction investment themes at Blackstone,” said Bilal Khan, Senior Managing Director, and Mark Zhu, Managing Director, at Blackstone. “We are proud that this project is expected to not only create hundreds of local jobs in West Virginia, but also generate more affordable, efficient and reliable power supply.”
GE Vernova will supply its 7HA.02 gas turbine for the facility. “We look forward to working closely with Blackstone to complete development and start construction of this important project for the community,” said Dave Ross, President and CEO of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in the Americas.
West Virginia Governor Morrisey called the investment a signal of the state’s emergence as “the leading state in the country for energy growth and investment.”
Blackstone said the project aligns with its broader energy transition strategy. The firm’s Energy Transition Partners unit has recently invested in Hill Top Energy Center (620 MW, Pennsylvania) and Potomac Energy Center (774 MW, Virginia), adding about 1,600 MW of new gas-fired generation in the U.S. over the past three and a half years.