LCRA power plants receive national recognition for safety

AUSTIN - In 2007, three of LCRA's power plants received national recognition for accomplishments in technology renovation, safety, and performance. Two natural gas-fired plants, Sim Gideon in Bastrop and Thomas C. Ferguson in Marble Falls, and LCRA's coal-fired power plant, Fayette Power Project near La Grange, received honors.

In October, EUCG Inc., an international electric utility industry group, named Fayette Power Project (FPP) the "Best Performer" in the large plant category for the second year in a row at its annual awards presentation.

Out of a large field of power plants, FPP rated the highest performance in the areas of reliability and cost during fiscal year 2006. FPP Unit 3 also received an honorable mention for longest run ending in 2006, recognizing the unit for 7,372 hours of continuous operation. LCRA co-owns units 1 and 2 with Austin Energy. LCRA also owns a third unit at FPP. The awards are based on data provided by 27 member companies throughout the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe.

Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant will receive an achievement award from the Southwest Electric Safety Exchange at its spring meeting in El Paso for reaching the milestone of 20 years of no days-away accidents.

This is the longest safety record of consecutive years for any of LCRA's power plants and reflects 1,736,186 hours. Tom Glynn, LCRA's manager of generation services, congratulated Ferguson's 35 employees on their safety record and told them the achievement is a group effort.

"Nothing we do is more important than performing the work safely so that each employee returns home each day uninjured," Glynn said. The Southwest Electric Safety Exchange is made up of generation and distribution companies throughout the Southwest.

Last spring, the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society (ISA) chose the Sim Gideon Power Plant to receive its annual Power Industry Division Facilities Award. In being named ISA's Facility of the Year, Sim Gideon was recognized for its contribution to the advancement of instrumentation and controls in the power generation field. Sim Gideon was selected for its innovative and creative use of technologies. Upgrades to all three units have increase efficiency and performance, improved unit dispatching, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and improved personnel productivity, all of which allows the 42-year-old facility to remain viable and competitive as a niche player in the ancillary services market.

LCRA is a conservation and reclamation district that provides energy, water and community services to improve the quality of life for the people of Texas. LCRA generates electricity and sells it wholesale to cityowned utilities and cooperatives that serve more than 1.1 million people. LCRA also builds and operates transmission projects through a nonprofit corporation, manages and protects the waters of the lower Colorado River, operates parks, and helps communities with economic development. LCRA operates on revenues from the sale of electricity, water and other services. It cannot levy taxes and receives no tax money.