A Month of Planning
The month of November always brings so many things to mind for me. The 1st is my mother's birthday. Nan Wilson Roth's faith and strength can't be measured, and to call her my hero would be an understatement. I'm reminded of the old South Central Bell commercial where coach Bear Bryant asked, "Have you called your momma today?” I will definitely heed his advice this month.
I also think of Veterans Day and my dad, retired Lieutenant Colonel Joseph W. Bailey, who enlisted at the age of 16 with his parents' signoff. I'm proud of his service to our country. I think of Thanksgiving and taking some time to be grateful for the many blessings we have in this country, even when we might take them for granted. I think of the start of deer season in Alabama and the simple pleasures of preparing for the hunt.
But here at the cooperative, November is a month for planning. Most of us know the old adage that failing to plan is planning to fail. It's certainly true in the electric industry. This is a month when your cooperative is knee-deep in financial planning, preparing for future construction, mapping out our employment needs, and much more.
Why is all that planning necessary? Just think about someone trying to build new poultry houses at the end of a dirt road with a single-phase distribution line. First, we need to send people out there to see if the distribution line can handle the new load. Then they might need to come back and upgrade those lines or install new equipment altogether. That's why communication from our members about their electric needs is so important.
No matter how detailed our construction plan is, it would be worthless without the proper financial planning to pay for it. That requires figuring out a reasonable electric rate our members can afford while also supporting the construction, operation, and maintenance costs of your electric system.
We plan schedules for our employees far in advance so we're prepared when surprise outages occur. We had our share of those this summer, so you can never underestimate the importance of having teams ready to restore power.
All of that is just at the distribution level. Just like you're a member of South Alabama Electric Cooperative, your cooperative is also a member of PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, a generation and transmission cooperative. PowerSouth has to make long-term plans because it can take years to energize a baseload power plant.
3 years ago, the board of trustees at PowerSouth made the decision to retire the Lowman coal-fired power plant and replace it with a natural gas-fired plant. That decision was mainly due to increasing regulations associated with operating a coal-fired power plant. These costs would have increased your cost of power because there was no increase in energy or demand output. No efficiency gains, just increased cost.
Earlier this year, on September 20, those plans came to fruition as the new Lowman Energy Center officially went online. The cutting-edge facility is the most efficient natural gas plant in the country and generates 693 megawatts of electricity. That's enough to provide our members with reliable power 24/7 for decades to come.
In total, the Lowman Energy Center is an investment of $540 million. That kind of spending requires careful planning, and I'm proud to say PowerSouth has done its homework. Now, when you flip on a light switch at home, you can be confident that the electricity you need will be there. As your local cooperative, we pledge that we'll continue to plan just as carefully for the good of our members.
So, as you travel or prepare to welcome family and friends this November, I hope all of our members will set aside some time to be thankful for our true blessings. Be thankful to our veterans, be thankful for our freedoms and, if you're lucky, maybe even be thankful for that big buck this hunting season. And if you have loved ones you aren't able to gather with, take Bear Bryant's advice and give them a call to let them know how grateful you are for them. Until next month, stay safe, and happy birthday to my mom, Nan.
David Bailey
General Manager