November 6, 2026 - A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved a $353 million opening bid for Pleasants Power Station, giving the West Virginia coal plant a prospective buyer ahead of a possible November 12 auction. The proposed agreement includes a coal supply requirement for 2027 and provisions for retaining plant employees if the deal closes.

Judge Karen B. Owens entered the order on November 3, authorizing Omnis Pleasants, LLC, to use the offer from Pleasants Power Generation, LLC, an affiliate of Rockland Power Partners V, LP, as the baseline for competing bids. The order did not approve the sale or transfer ownership of the 1,278-megawatt plant in Belmont, West Virginia.

Omnis filed a proposed sale order on November 5 that contemplates a sale to the Rockland affiliate, subject to the outcome of the bidding process. The public case index lists a November 6 notice indicating that the secured parties declined to bid. Other qualified bidders can still submit offers.

Competing bids are due November 9 at 4 p.m. Eastern. An auction is scheduled for November 12 at 10 a.m. Eastern if needed, and the deadline for sale objections has been extended to November 12. The court is scheduled to consider the sale on November 18 at 10 a.m. Eastern. Any closing would still depend on regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Omnis selected the Rockland affiliate and signed the asset purchase agreement on October 23. Bloomberg reported the offer on October 28, and Law360 reported the court’s approval of the opening bid on November 4.

According to a public summary of the agreement, $353 million is the base cash price for substantially all of Omnis Pleasants’ assets. The final amount would be adjusted for items including coal and lime inventories, spare parts, certain capital and maintenance spending, emissions allowances, hedges and working capital. The proposed buyer would also assume specified liabilities, including certain on-site coal ash cleanup and closure obligations. The agreement provides for a 2% breakup fee and up to $2 million in documented expense reimbursement under specified conditions.

One condition of closing is that Omnis have the right under an Alliance Coal agreement to buy at least 525,000 tons of Northern Appalachian coal and 60,000 tons of Illinois Basin coal for delivery from April through December 2027. Those 585,000 tons represent coal available for purchase under the agreement, rather than a forecast of how much the plant would burn.

The agreement also calls for a third-party plant operator to offer comparable jobs to employees at closing, with specified exceptions. Employees who transfer would receive at least their existing base pay for one year. WV MetroNews reported in July that the plant employed about 140 people.

Pleasants is a two-unit station that sells power into the PJM wholesale electricity market. The proposed transaction requires approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and arrangements for the new owner to participate in PJM. The fuel and staffing provisions indicate that the bid is structured around continued coal-fired operations, although Rockland has not announced a long-term operating commitment for the plant.

Omnis acquired Pleasants in 2023 after the plant faced decommissioning. The company had proposed using hydrogen produced during the conversion of coal into graphite to fuel the station. The proposed sale excludes the reformer and related hydrogen technology.

Omnis Pleasants filed for Chapter 11 protection on July 26 amid financial distress and a dispute over control of the company. The petition lists a $50.9 million unsecured claim from the West Virginia Economic Development Authority and a separate $20 million disputed claim from Bilt Technology. Management and the parent group have disputed who had authority to put the company into bankruptcy. The $353 million opening bid does not determine how much the state or other creditors will recover.