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Southern CEO Fanning Set to Step Down

July 30, 2022

Longtime Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning plans to announce his retirement, perhaps by the end of this year, stepping down after leading the company since 2010.

A Bloomberg report on July 29, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the U.S. utility giant already has launched a search to find Fanning’s replacement. Bloomberg reported that a Southern Co. spokesperson said a decision has not been made with regard to the timing of Fanning’s exit.

Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Co. since 2010, is preparing to announce his retirement. Source: Southern Co.

Fanning turned 65 in March of this year. Southern has a mandatory retirement age of 65 for its executives, though Bloomberg reported that the company has extended that age limit for Fanning as he oversees the continued construction of a two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant.

Fanning in a call with investors on July 28 said both of the new units at Vogtle should enter commercial operation in 2023, after years of delays and cost overruns for what energy analysts now say is $ 30 billion-plus project, more than double the expansion’s original cost estimates.…

Southern Co. Gas-Fired Demonstration Validates 20% Hydrogen Fuel Blend

June 17, 2022

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A demonstration project at Georgia Power’s 2.5-GW natural gas–fired Plant McDonough-Atkinson facility has validated a natural gas fuel blend with 20% hydrogen by volume on one of its six Mitsubishi Power advanced-class gas turbines.

The test, one of the largest of its kind to date, provided an approximately 7% reduction in carbon emissions compared to gas, project participants Mitsubishi Power, Southern Co.’s Georgia Power, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) said on June 10.

The test successfully validated fuel blending hydrogen and natural gas “at both partial and full load” at the designed 100% natural gas firing temperature, “within emissions compliance and without impact to maintenance intervals,” project participants said. The team also confirmed “improved turndown by testing up to 20% hydrogen at minimum emissions-compliant load.”

The project entailed building flow control and pressure control skids to feed the fuel blend to one of the Smyrna, Georgia, plant’s six M501G natural gas turbines, which have an approximate output of 265 MW.…

Southern Will Close More than Half of Coal Fleet

November 9, 2021

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Southern Company, the third-largest power utility in the U.S., said it will close more than half its coal-fired power generation fleet over the next few years as the group moves toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Southern on Nov. 5 said the closures include units at the two largest U.S. coal plants, along with the previously announced retirement of Plant Daniel in Mississippi. Georgia Power, a Southern subsidiary, expects to retire about 3 GW of coal-fired generation in that state, including two of the four units at the 3,450-MW Plant Bowen and one at the 3,500-MW Plant Scherer, the nation’s largest coal plant.

The utility also said a closure would occur at the 1,840-MW Plant Wansley in Georgia.

Southern CEO Tom Fanning in a call Friday with Wall Street analysts said the latest cuts mean the company will have reduced its coal-fired generation capacity by 80% since 2007. Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern at one time operated 66 coal-fired generating units, with capacity of nearly 20,500 MW across the U.S.…

Stanton Energy Reliability Center Hybrid Supplies Power When Southern California Needs It Most

October 3, 2021

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Stanton Energy Reliability Center is a unique hybrid power station that includes two GE LM6000 gas turbines, each integrated with a battery energy storage system. The station provides reliable and stable power generation needed by the California power grid.

California has long been a leader in the world’s transition toward renewable energy. In 2018, California established a landmark policy requiring that 100% of electric retail sales to customers in the state be supplied by renewable and zero-carbon energy resources by 2045. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has reported that renewable resources, including hydropower and small-scale (less than one MW) customer-sited solar photovoltaic systems, are already supplying more than half of California’s in-state electricity generation. In March this year, the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a joint agency report that found the state’s clean energy goals are indeed achievable, and in multiple ways.

Yet, the state has also felt the effects of power shortages in recent years.…

April Marks Twelfth Consecutive Month of Job Growth in Maryland – The Southern Maryland Chronicle

May 24, 2021

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April Marks Twelfth Consecutive Month of Job Growth in Maryland The Southern Maryland Chronicle
“job” – Google News…

Southern Announces Delay in Testing at Vogtle

March 21, 2021

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The post Southern Announces Delay in Testing at Vogtle appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Southern Co. has announced another delay in hot functional testing for the first unit of its two-unit expansion at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia.

The utility in a March 19 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said its subsidiary Georgia Power “now expects the start of hot functional testing for Unit 3 will be delayed into April.” The filing said that Southern Nuclear, the nuclear power subsidiary of Southern Co., “continues to target a November 2021 in-service date for Unit 3,” though it also said “the schedule is challenged and… a delay is likely and could add one month or more to the Unit 3 in-service date.”

Georgia Power said it estimates delays beyond November “would result in additional base capital costs for Georgia Power of approximately $ 25 million per month.” The project, first approved by state regulators in 2009, with an original estimated cost of about $ 14 billion, now projects to enter commercial operation about five years after initial expectations.…