Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station Earns Nation’s Top Safety Award

SMITHTON, Pa., May 22, 2025 – Today, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) formally honored Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station (Tenaska Westmoreland) in Smithton, Pennsylvania, as a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star worksite.

“The significance of this recognition cannot be overstated,” said Chris Leitner, President and CEO of Tenaska. “It is a testament to employees at Tenaska Westmoreland who work tirelessly every day to ensure the safety and well-being of those around them. We are very proud of the team and this achievement.”

Leitner spoke Thursday at a celebratory luncheon held in recognition of the plant’s 24 employees. Approximately 100 people were in attendance, including elected officials, partners and esteemed community members.

Achieving VPP Star designation is a rigorous process. Businesses must demonstrate that management and employees work cooperatively – and proactively – to prevent workplace accidents by implementing a comprehensive safety and health management system and maintaining injury and illness rates below national averages for their respective industries.

“Being recognized by OSHA with a VPP Star certification is a tremendous honor,” said Robert Mayfield, Tenaska Westmoreland Plant Manager. “We have extremely dedicated employees who are invested in maintaining a safe workplace for each other. Gaining VPP Star certification was a long, thorough process, but it means so much to everyone here.”

The VPP program is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health. To remain in the program, participants must be re-evaluated every three to five years.

Tenaska Westmoreland is among 1,877 U.S. worksites and 93 Pennsylvania worksites to achieve the VPP Star. In addition to the VPP Star designation, employees at the plant have been recognized with 17 National Safety Council Awards since 2018.

Tenaska Westmoreland has a nameplate capacity of 940 megawatts, capable of powering 940,000 homes. The power generated by the plant is sold into the PJM Interconnection (PJM) regional transmission organization (RTO) to meet growing regional energy needs. PJM coordinates the flow of electricity from power generators to local utilities in 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, including Pennsylvania.

The plant is one of Westmoreland County’s largest taxpayers, contributing approximately $1.7 million in property taxes since 2018. The plant injects more than $12 million in salaries and payments to local contractors and vendors into the area economy each year.

The Tenaska Westmoreland plant is owned by Tenaska Pennsylvania Partners, LLC and is comprised of affiliates of Tenaska, Diamond Generating Corporation and J-Power USA.

 

About Tenaska

Consistently ranked among Forbes’ List of America’s Largest Private Companies, Tenaska is a leading energy company with business operations that span the energy value chain. Tenaska Marketing Ventures (TMV) and Tenaska Power Services Co. (TPS) are among the largest natural gas and electric power marketing companies in North America. The company has an operating fleet of 7,482 megawatts (MW) of natural gas and renewable generating facilities and throughout its history has developed, managed and/or operated 23,172 MW of natural gas-fueled and renewable generation. Tenaska is actively developing 10 carbon sequestration projects capable of storing more than 50 million metric tons of CO₂ per year, multiple natural gas-fueled generation projects and a development services portfolio of more than 41,500 MW of solar, wind, energy storage and green hydrogen projects. Tenaska seeks investment opportunities to allocate its capital into generation assets nationwide. For more information, visit Tenaska.com.

 

Media Contacts:

Leighton Eusebio
Office: 402-691-9534
Mobile: 603-571-0285
leusebio@tenaska.com