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Aug 19 (Reuters) – Power producer NRG Energy (NRG.N) has been named as a potential suitor for a West Virginia coal plant that landed in bankruptcy last month with $13 million in cash and several profitable years ahead of it, a court filing shows.
A motion to dismiss the case on Friday disclosed that NRG Energy is evaluating a potential acquisition of the coal plant or an ownership stake. NRG was not immediately available to comment on the filing.
A major question in the case is whether the Pleasants Power Station should even be in bankruptcy, given its cash position and future prospects.
The fight over control of the coal plant escalated on Friday when its owner asked a federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware to dismiss the Chapter 11 reorganization case. Omnis Energy, led by clean-tech entrepreneur Simon Hodson, argued the bankruptcy case is unjustified because
Pleasants Power Station is on track to generate at least $466 million in revenue over the next four years while making an operating profit estimated at $286 million.
Hodson’s group is battling a turnaround management team installed earlier this year by lenders.
The new management team said Hodson failed to convert the coal plant into a clean hydrogen power producer. As a result, Pleasants missed out on securing crucial capacity payments from the PJM Interconnection, a grid operator for 67 million people in a territory that stretches from Washington, D.C. to Chicago, it said.
“From 2023 through mid-2025 … Pleasants incurred significant operating losses caused by misconduct and mismanagement by prior leadership, inadequate working capital, deferred maintenance that caused significant generation outages that impaired the Plant’s performance,” David Hindman, the head of the management turnaround team, said in a July 27 declaration filed in bankruptcy court.
Hindman also said the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began an investigation of the coal plant’s operation in October 2025.
Omnis denies any wrongdoing. Offers to purchase Pleasants Power Station range from $350 million to $400 million, more than 10 times the amount of its 2023 purchase price, and any sale would immediately pay in full all of the estimated indebtedness related to the plant, Omnis told the court.
Omnis contends the new management group was not authorized to file for bankruptcy protection. Omnis added that its attempt to settle outstanding obligations — with a $76 million payment — was rejected.
Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Paul Simao
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