CertainTeed® is North America’s leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, insulation, gypsum and ceilings. CertainTeed will be long-term leasing the former Philip Sporn Power Plant coal yard to store newly produced gypsum from the AEP Mountaineer Power Plant. Thus far, they have over 300,000 tons of material stored and plan on storing around 1,000,000 tons of material by the end of 2023. This operation will involve product storage, transloading between truck and barge, and employment to at least 25 individuals. They have already invested into and installed conveyors, hoppers, truck scales, and earth moving equipment, among various other investments.

The Philip Sporn Power Plant, located in New Haven, West Virginia, has a rich history in the energy sector. It was named after Philip Sporn, who served as the president of the Appalachian Power Company. The plant began operating in the 1950s and quickly established itself as a significant contributor to the regional power grid. Over the years, it underwent several expansions and upgrades to enhance its generating capacity and efficiency, keeping pace with the region’s increasing energy needs. After nearly 70 years of operation, the facility closed due to increasing environmental regulation on the coal industry. The 20 acre footprint of CertainTeed’s Gypsum staging and transloading operation is located where the source of energy for the coal plant was stored, the Coal Yard.