OMNIS ENERGY: SIX OBJECTIONS SET STAGE FOR SEPTEMBER 3 PLEASANTS BANKRUPTCY HEARING

Omnis and Quantum file four objections; WVEDA and U.S. Trustee file separate objections ahead of September 3 hearing

BELMONT, W.Va., Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Six objections have been filed concerning relief sought in the Chapter 11 case of Omnis Pleasants, LLC, owner and operator of the 1,278-megawatt Pleasants Power Station in Pleasants County, West Virginia.

Omnis Fuel Technologies, LLC, doing business as Omnis Energy, and Quantum Pleasants, LLC filed four objections. The West Virginia Economic Development Authority (WEVDA) and the Office of the United States Trustee filed separate, independent objections. The matters are scheduled for consideration by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen B. Owens at a September 3 hearing in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Chapter 11 debtor is seeking final authority to use cash collateral and provide protections to TRAG LLC and RG Energy LLC; approval of bidding procedures for a sale of the operating plant; and approval of professionals proposed to conduct the bankruptcy and sale.

Omnis and Quantum dispute whether the lenders' asserted obligations are properly secured by assets of Omnis Pleasants. They also challenge aspects of the proposed sale timetable and the proposed retention of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (US) LLP as bankruptcy counsel because of its disclosed prior representation of TRAG and RG Energy. The debtor, lenders and HSF Kramer dispute those positions.

The Omnis and Quantum filings describe TRAG and RG Energy as owned and controlled by celebrity motivational speaker and businessman Tony Robbins and investor Ajay Gupta. According to the filings, the lenders are affiliated with the investor group that installed the plant's current management and now asserts control over Omnis Pleasants. The court has not ruled on the lenders' claims, liens or asserted governance rights.

WVEDA, West Virginia's state economic-development lender, holds a claim exceeding $50 million arising from a loan to Quantum Pleasants that Omnis Pleasants guaranteed. Its independent objection calls portions of the proposed lender protections "over-reaching," warns that they could give TRAG and RG Energy "a veto power over the debtor's restructuring," and states that the proposed credit-bid treatment "could chill bidding from third parties."

WVEDA supports a fair and transparent sale process that gives appropriate consideration to continued plant operations, workforce preservation and bidders' operating experience. It has not joined Omnis and Quantum's pending motion to dismiss the bankruptcy.

The U.S. Trustee separately objects to HSF Kramer's proposed retention. The U.S. Trustee Program, the Justice Department component responsible for protecting the integrity of the bankruptcy process, questions whether HSF Kramer made the disclosures necessary to establish its eligibility to represent the debtor, including disclosures concerning its prior representation of TRAG and RG Energy. HSF Kramer maintains that it is qualified to represent Pleasants.

"These are not abstract procedural questions," said Charles Gassenheimer, president of Omnis Energy. "The decisions made on September 3 could materially affect the control, financing and possible sale of one of West Virginia's largest power plants."

Omnis-related entities helped acquire Pleasants and return it to operation in 2023. The plant's current management authorized the July 26 Chapter 11 filing amid a dispute over governance and control. Omnis and Quantum contend in a pending dismissal motion that the bankruptcy was not properly authorized and was not filed in good faith; the debtor and lenders dispute that account. The court has made no findings on those issues.

The dismissal motion will not be heard September 3 and is scheduled for a hearing approximately 60 days later. Judge Owens may approve, deny, modify or defer some or all of the immediate relief requested on September 3 while the underlying challenge to the bankruptcy remains unresolved.

SOURCE Omnis Energy