POWERGRAMS

HISTORY A Century of Service Gadsden Steam Plant was state's first big power producer In addition to coming online 100 years ago, Gadsden Steam Plant has many other notable "firsts" and significant contributions to its community, state, industry and Alabama Power. These are the focus of the plant's centennial celebration in September. In 1912, when company president James Mitchell secured the purchase of Alabama Power Development Co., it encompassed a dam and a small 2,000-kilowatt hydroelectric plant. The sale included a 10,000-kilowatt steam plant under construction in Gadsden. At the time Gadsden Steam Plant was completed, it was the most modern and powerful generating plant in Alabama. Before that, there was no power system in the state that provided backup or support power in case a generator failed. The Gadsden plant provided reserve power to Lay Dam and main power for trolleys, street lights, manufacturers and others, wrote historian Leah Rawls Atkins in her award-winning book "Developed for the Service of Alabama." Having enough electricity to run motors and lights in a manufacturing plant encouraged companies to move to Gadsden. The new plants employed many people from the city. "It was the beginning of a new era – one driven by electricity," said Atkins. "Gadsden Steam Plant was significant in the development of the state power system." Among Plant Gadsden's "firsts" and points of significance are: • 1913 – First coal-fired power plant came online in September. • 1952 – Original generating units were retired and the new units came online. • 1999 – Renew the Coosa started as a river cleanup by plant employee Gene Phifer and later won national awards. • 2000 – Switchgrass co-firing system was installed on Unit 2. • 2001 – A bottle containing a note was found during the Renew the Coosa cleanup near the plant. The "Message in the Bottle" environmental symposium began that fall and continues as the educational component of Renew Our Rivers. • 2001– Switchgrass co-firing full-scale testing for CO2 reduction began as a joint project with the Electric Power Research Institute. Gadsden received a Southeastern Electric Exchange award for the project in 2001. • 2001 – First plant to recycle ash pond water for generation and steam supply, continuing to use the process today. Won LEAF and Southeastern Electric Exchange awards for the project. • 2002 – Renew the Coosa became Renew Our Rivers, expanding across Alabama Power and Southern Company territory. • 2003 – Began burning biomass in the form of sawdust and wood chips. "I am privileged to be a part of such a great team," said Cassandra Wheeler, Gadsden Steam Plant's manager since 2012. "A team that is rich in pride, history and a solid work ethic. Many of the employees have a long history at Plant Gadsden and they demonstrate it consistently with the amount of responsibility that is required to operate and maintain a plant as longstanding as Gadsden." Wheeler said she has learned from many company mentors, always remembering the wisdom of Jerry Stewart, Wayne Edwards and the contemporaries of influential company leaders such as Mitchell, William Patrick Lay and Tom Martin with roots at Gadsden Steam Plant. Events in September will commemorate the centennial, including an employee and retiree reunion and several community service projects. At top, the original Gadsden Steam Plant under construction on Aug. 4, 1913; center, aerial view of current steam plant complex; bottom, "new" Gadsden plant, circa 1950. By Nancy Prater PAGE55

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