POWERGRAMS

Kenneth Odom's presidency of the Hydropower Foundation could have been sunk before he'd hardly begun his two-year term. Odom took the helm in January 2018 and by August the executive director unexpectedly resigned as the national organization was implementing new programs and dealing with the loss of Department of Energy (DOE) funding. "It was all hands on deck to keep the foundation running," Odom said. "The next eight months were a little difficult and a little unstructured, but we persevered with the help of our program director and our strategic planner." Odom's "greatest obstacle" as president was overcome when "the stars seemed to align" and the foundation hired Linda Ciocci, the former executive director of the National Hydropower Association (NHA). Odom calls finding Ciocci his second greatest success as president, ranking just behind initiating the Hydro Think Tank program. "One of the most rewarding parts of my career has been my involvement in education – I love teaching," said Odom, a Hydro Services engineer. "Leading up to becoming president, I had an idea for a student competition that would be held at one of the Alabama Power hydroelectric plants." Through the years, Odom has taught hundreds of fourth grade students using his homemade hydro-turbine demonstration machine. That educational concept was expanded through the Think Tank, a multiday competition between college students. The first event at Logan Martin Dam in May 2018 brought entrants from Auburn, Alabama, Samford and UAB. It earned the Outstanding Stewards of America's Waters award at the 2019 NHA national conference. Hydro Think Tanks are being scheduled in the Northeast and Northwest after the pandemic. "This is without a doubt what I consider my biggest success as president," said the Bankston native who left the state to work for the U.S. Geological Survey in Kentucky and Colorado before returning to Alabama. He'd previously earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Alabama before his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. Odom has been working with the Hydropower Foundation (HF) since 2014 when he became a board member of the Colorado- based group. The nonprofit was founded in 1994 as the Hydro Research Foundation but was renamed during his term to broaden the organization's scope. Its mission is to advance hydropower to provide clean, affordable electricity for the future by directing talent and resources "to hydropower's most promising opportunities and most pressing challenges." When he was first involved with the foundation, its primary concentration was awarding research fellowships to master's and Ph.D. students. The foundation awarded DOE funds based on industry need for research. "We lost our DOE support due to federal budgetary changes," Odom said. "After losing this program, we realized that we needed to be a more diverse, sustainable organization." While HF has always promoted hydropower, the need for diverse funding has grown. Each year, Odom and other leaders promote the foundation and industry at conferences. The organization has submitted proposals to DOE for new education and workforce development programs. HF is expanding its reach into marine, hydrokinetic energy, solar and wind. "Most of our supporters are industry leaders in hydropower, such as Alabama Power, but we also have a few individual sponsors," said Odom, who remains on the HF board. "We have strong support from the consulting community. HF is supported by a healthy cross- section of the entire hydropower community." At Alabama Power Corporate Headquarters, Odom leads technical studies for the Reservoir Management section of Hydro Services, Southern Company Generation. Their work aids relicensing, reservoir operations and water use. He spends a lot of time in the design, construction and operation of dissolved oxygen enhancements that support wildlife downstream of hydropower plants. While hydropower has critics, and many energy experts are promoting solar and wind options, Odom sees a bright future for water-driven electricity. He said hydro is experiencing a renaissance and that solar and wind are the most unpredictable power sources compared to more conventional sources. "With the higher level of unpredictability and changing fuel availability, the output from solar and wind can fluctuate," Odom said. "That's where generating resources like hydropower are able to step in. Most units in the Alabama Power Company hydroelectric fleet can go from unloaded to fully loaded in about a minute. A large reservoir with a hydropower facility is the largest battery in the world." And Odom plans to keep promoting hydro alongside the more popular current power portfolios. "Hydropower, for years, has been unfairly characterized as not being 'green' and being a detriment to natural waterways," he said. "I think that might be true if the resource is not managed properly. But that is not the way it is done here at Alabama Power Company. There is a continual, focused effort placed on maintaining the resource in an environmentally responsible way. It takes a lot of coordination between many groups within the company, but it is a top priority and it gets done." 48

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