Alabama: Part One of Coal-Fired Profiles of Nine States Suing EPA Over Clean Power Plan

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As mentioned in an article last week, there are nine states involved in a lawsuit opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan. Industrial Info will look at these states in more detail, starting with Alabama.

For more information, see July 10, 2014, article - Nine States Join Lawsuit Opposing EPA Carbon Rules.

Alabama has 15 active plants that use coal as their primary fuel, directly employing about 4,000 people. Nine of these plants are power plants and the remaining six are cement-, steel- and limestone-processing facilities.

Alabama Power Company (Birmingham, Alabama), a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSO:SO), is the biggest player in the coal-fired power generation business in Alabama, with six of the nine coal-fired power plants.

The remaining coal-fired power plants are owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) and PowerSouth Energy Cooperative (Andalusia, Alabama). Unit 5 at the TVA's Colbert Fossil Plant will be removed from service, converted to renewable biomass, and have emissions controls added through a scrubber for sulfur dioxide reduction by December 31, 2015. If these measures are determined not to be cost-effective, the unit will be retired. The same plans are in place for units 1-4 by June 30, 2016.

These are the operational coal-fired plants in Alabama. Click the link for each plant to view the plant profile, including unit, boiler and project information:

• James M Barry Power Station; 2,657-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1954
• James H Miller Power Station; 2,640-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1978
• Ernest C Gaston Power Station; 1,880-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1960
• Greene County Steam Plant; 1,220-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1965
• William Crawford Gorgas Power Station; 1,221-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1914
• Gadsden Power Station; 138-MW capacity; owned by Alabama Power Company; first operational in 1949
• Colbert Power Station; 1,830-MW capacity; owned by Tennessee Valley Authority; first operational in 1954
• Widows Creek Fossil Plant; 1,125-MW capacity; owned by Tennessee Valley Authority; first operational in 1960
• Charles R Lowman Power Station; 538-MW capacity; owned by PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; first operational in 1969

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

These plants generate a total of up to 13,200 MW, providing power to more than 10 million homes and businesses.

The average operational age of Alabama Power's plants is 61 years. Taking the William Crawford Gorgas plant out the equation, the average still is more than 50 years.

All nine coal-fired power plants in Alabama average 58 years. This is same average age for plants that retired in 2010, and higher than the average age of plants retiring in 2012 (51 years).

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.