HENDERSON, Ky. – Big Rivers Electric Corporation received national recognition for Operational Excellence of its D.B. Wilson Station, located in Ohio County, Ky., and the Henderson Power and Light (HMP&L) Station Two plant it operates in Henderson County, Ky. The D.B. Wilson Station placed runner-up in the 2015 Navigant Generation Knowledge Service (GKS) Operational Excellence Award for the Medium Plant Category (301-600 MW Average Unit Size Range). Likewise, HMP&L Station Two power plant operated by Big Rivers won Top Performer in the Small Plant Category (300 and under MW Average Unit Size Range). The Operational Excellence Award is based on a coal plant’s performance in cost, operations and safety.
“We applaud the Wilson and Station Two employees for receiving these awards, which represent three of our seven corporate values: safety, excellence and teamwork,” said Bob Berry, president and CEO. “Big Rivers strives every day to provide value for its Member-Owners in western Kentucky, and these significant achievements are a testament to our employees’ dedication and commitment to keep the cost of electricity affordable and reliable.”
“I am very proud of our employees and plant leadership’s commitment to safety and operational excellence as demonstrated by this national recognition,” said Mike Pullen, Vice President Production. “It’s an honor to work with them to safely generate competitive and reliable wholesale power for our Member-Owners.”
The GKS Operational Excellence Awards were established in 2010 and are the industry’s premier benchmarking service for fossil-fired generation plants. Navigant measures and evaluates the operational performance and cost of more than 620 generating units, comparing them to their peers. More than 70 percent of the North American utility generation coal fleet — including utilities such as Duke Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, American Electric Power and Southern Company — are clients with Navigant Consulting.
“This is an incredible achievement for the Wilson Station employees to be recognized as the second most accomplished coal-fired generation plant in the medium plant category in the U.S.,” said Keith Scott, Wilson Station plant manager. “This is a lifetime accomplishment for our organization, and I’m very proud of our people for making this milestone occur.”
“We are honored to earn this national award,” said Ron Gregory, Sebree Station plant manager. “It’s a tribute to the success of our employees and the entire production group as a whole. We strive each and every day to be a top performer among our generation fleet while keeping cost and safety a top priority.”
As an organization, Big Rivers is no stranger to the GKS Navigant Award. The Kenneth C. Coleman plant, located in Hawesville, Ky., achieved the Top Performer honor in the Small Plant Category three consecutive years (2012, 2013 and 2014). The latest Wilson and Station Two achievements mark Big Rivers Electric Corporation’s fourth consecutive year to receive a GKS Operational Excellence Award across its three generation facilities.
To be eligible for this award, plants are required to enter five years of continuous data. Plants were most recently evaluated over the five-year period of 2010-2014 in the following areas:
- Efficient cost management of non-fuel operations and maintenance
- High availability measured by equivalent availability factor, which is the percentage of time a generating unit is available for power production
- Predictable reliability measured by equivalent unplanned outage rate (EUOR), which is the percentage of time a generating unit is unexpectedly off-line
- Improving reliability as a trend in EUOR
- Safety performance based on Occupational Safety and Health Administration non-hearing recordable incidents per 200,000 hours worked
Big Rivers operates generation totaling more than 1800 MW and owns three stations in Robards, Ky. (Sebree Station), Centertown, Ky. (Wilson Station) and Hawesville, Ky. (Coleman Station). Wilson Station generates 417 MW and employs 106 people. Station Two, operated at Sebree Station, generates 312 MW and employs 125 people.
Big Rivers Electric Corporation is an electric generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Henderson, Kentucky and owned by three distribution cooperative members—Jackson Purchase Energy Corporation, headquartered in Paducah; Kenergy Corp, headquartered in Henderson; and Meade County Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, headquartered in Brandenburg. These member cooperatives deliver retail electric power and energy to more than 115,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in portions of 22 western Kentucky counties.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2015