Above (left to right): Jonathan Singleton, Leland Loper, Chris Moseley, LC Howell, Margaret Marks and Michael Blackledge.

May 2020 | Volume 33 • Number 5 | www.powersouth.com | info@powersouth.com

PowerlinesMaking sure the plant runs

Skilled hands are the driving force behind keeping a facility like the Charles R. Lowman Plant running and making sure reliable power gets to the people. Pivotal to this process are the employees in the plant’s mechanical maintenance department.

The 22 employees in mechanical maintenance make up one half of Lowman’s Maintenance Department. A coal plant requires a great deal of upkeep because the sheer amount of equipment — fans, pumps, couplings, valves, burners, mills for grinding coal and limestone, cooling tower fans, air heaters, etc. These pieces of equipment (and their inner workings) require preventative maintenance and, inevitably, restorative maintenance when they fail.

Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor James Bayles, with 39 years of service, a team that includes Golden Coleman and Caleb Williams. The two have nearly 20 years of combined experience in maintaining equipment critical to PowerSouth‘s mission.

A Day in the Life “We tear down and diagnose equipment, weld, do machine work — there’s a lot of things we do,” said Coleman, who started September 2010. “It’s a broad spectrum, but it’s fun.”

“I’ve enjoyed it,” said Williams. “It’s really what you make it.”

Hired in as a plant technician in 2010, Williams went to maintenance after nearly three years in utilities. Both he and Coleman worked their way from Tech 1 to Tech 4 with on-the-job and educational opportunities.

Typical days begin with a morning safety meeting. Afterwards, supervisors like Bayles distribute work orders. Bayles said his duties as a supervisor also consist of collecting time cards, keeping up with payroll, and checking in on employees (including some contractors) and jobs being performed.

According to Coleman, work orders can be “pretty interesting” and range from changing oil and greasing a piece of equipment to changing bearings or pulling motors.

For Bayles, his years at the plant have helped him cultivate a vast amount of knowledge about its inner workings. He started as a helper in the department he now supervises.

“When I started, you got put as a helper for a particular mechanic, and you worked with them,” said Bayles. “You worked according to your abilities. If you could weld, you helped them weld. Whatever you could do. There’s a lot of difference in what I do now compared to what I started out doing.”

Challenges The job is not without its challenges. Coleman identified welding in the coal chutes, narrow passages for coal to travel down, as “probably” his least favorite activity.

Continued on page 2

LOWMAN TRIBUTE SERIES: PART IV

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“I enjoy all parts of my job, but that’s just tight quarters and can be pretty nasty,” Coleman said.

According to Williams, one of the bigger challenges is the heights involved in the work. It’s not a fear of heights for Williams (he doesn’t have one), but the need for careful planning beforehand.

“The worst part as a mechanic is up on the stairs,” he said. “You try to take everything you need on the first trip, especially if you’re going very high. You don’t want to be up there and realize you forgot something.”

Bayles, on the other hand, said it has been a challenge managing a changing workforce and keeping up with the demand for jobs to be done.

All three agreed that the current times of uncertainty are a challenge.

“The biggest change hasn’t really come until now,” Coleman said. “We’re not running near as much as we did 10 years ago. There’s been a lot of change out here since they told us we were shutting down.”

“We don’t run as much,” Williams agreed. “I’ve been here around 10 years and it’s kind of slowly decreased over that period of time. (The uncertainty) isn’t fun, though.”

“The Best Part of the Job” Employees commonly point to the family atmosphere at the Lowman Plant as a key to its success.

“We’ve got a good company we work for and some great people in the maintenance shop,” said Coleman. He and Williams both mentioned Fred Smith as a mentor. Williams said Smith was a lead mechanic and “very sharp.”

“He really helped me a lot,” Williams said. “The people you work with are the best part of the job, for sure. You come and work, but you also get to joke around some. It’s not a bad work environment at all. It’s kind of like a family. You’re pretty much with these people more than you are with your own family at home.”

Bayles reflected on some of the people he worked with over the years.

“There were several good people,” he said. “Worked a lot with Mr. Roger Pettis. I was his helper. When he retired, I was actually his supervisor. That’s kind of a strange thing to think about, but there’s a little saying around here that you should be kind to your helper because one day you might be working for them. Mr. Pettis was probably in his 40s when he got hired here, and I was 22. I learned a lot of useful things from his teaching.”

Now, Bayles hopes to guide others in a similar fashion.

“I’ve been in mechanical maintenance from day one,” he said. “I’ve been at every point of it from helper to mechanic to supervisor. You have a lot of people that come here in their 20s, like I did, and they don’t necessarily have the technical knowledge that someone who’s been here for 20 years would have. I get asked to look over jobs and things like that, so I want to say I’ve helped a lot of guys over the years.”

“I want to say I’ve helped a lot of guys over the years.”

JAMES BAYLES

THE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT TEAM

James BaylesWindell Bedwell

Kevin BrelandBilly BrewerKevin Brown

Greg BrunsonStacy CarpenterGolden ColemanDustin DunaganCharlie Etheridge

Greg GoldmanGary Goldman

Percy HarrisWayne Harrison

Elvis HennisNorman Howard

Binion JonesBryan JonesRuss Jones

Robby LoperTim Maten

Scottie McBrideChris MoseleyMel Moseley

Marlin O’GuynnBernard Pace

Bert PettisMarisa Petty

Wayne PhillipsJoey Ramey

Buddy ReynoldsGeorge RhodesBrian Sanderson

Brian SmithFred Smith

Tim SullivanCaleb WilliamsWillie Williams

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Outside of work The three are family men, and all have similar interests outside of work.

Bayles has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 41 years and has three children and eight grandkids, with another on the way. He enjoys fishing when he gets a chance.

“I’ve also started back hunting the last couple of years, starting to enjoy that again,” he said. “I’m kind of my wife’s handyman around the house. Do whatever needs doing. A little woodworking, building, things like that. Still like to plant my own little garden and watch it grow.”

Williams likes to be outdoors, whether for farming or yardwork or another activity.

“I like to hunt, fish,” he said. “Pretty much everybody around here does. I like saltwater fishing. But really what I enjoy is my young’un. I’ve got a one-year-old boy, so that’s changed my life.”

Williams and his wife, Chelsea, have been married for three years and together for 12.

“My favorite thing to do is hang out with my son,” he said. “It’s great, especially now that the weather’s changing. When I get home, he’s ready to go. That’s just going to get better as he gets older.”

Coleman enjoys offshore fishing. He and his wife will be married six years in May, and they have a five-year-old boy and five-month-old girl.

Reflections With the plant set to close in a few months, the three looked back on memories, lessons and takeaways from years at the plant.

“One thing I’ll never forget happened in the first year I worked here,” Bayles said. “We’d had a Unit 1 turbine had a wipe out of bearings, a catastrophe. Mr. John Edwards, superintendent at the time, decided all the new hires — 12 or so people — were going to do all the repair work on the turbine. None of us had hardly seen a turbine before, but we tore it down and rebuilt it through the direction of a GE rep.”

Williams, meanwhile, reflected on his learning opportunities. He is hopeful that, even if he is not retained at the new Lowman Energy Center, he can benefit from the skills he learned over time.

“Everyone knows the situation we’re in,” he said. “Being in the Maintenance department,

I think I’ve got a trade to fall back on. I’ve learned some things that helped me grow as a person and things I can use outside of here.”

Both Coleman and Williams recalled one particular experience with coworkers: a pickup basketball game between two employees — Eddie Howell and Wayne Turner — after work.

“Two of my buddies from the Utilities department challenged each other to a one-on-one game of basketball,” said Williams. “A lot of folks showed up from work and watched it. That was a good time, a good memory. It was great knowing everybody could meet up outside work and still be friends and hang out.”

Coleman joked: “They were going to play to 21, but there wasn’t enough scoring going on so they cut it back down to 12. They’re great guys. It was a lot of fun, and it’s something I’ll definitely remember.”

Looking back, Bayles said working at the plant was a positive experience, and he hopes to have made an impact.

“Up until two years ago, I knew I was going to have a job, knew I had a company that cared about me and about me working safe — making sure I went home the same way I arrived at work,” Bayles said. “I always tried to treat people as I would like to be treated. That was one of my main goals when I became supervisor. I think I’ve done a decent job at it.

“Being a supervisor and being put in that position of leadership — it was a great opportunity for me, and it’s been satisfying to lead a crew of people and work to keep this place running as well as we can,” he said. g

“I’ve learned some things that helped me grow as a person.”

CALEB WILLIAMS

“We’ve got a good company we work for and some great people in the maintenance shop.”

GOLDEN COLEMAN

4

The unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 have certainly impacted PowerSouth employees. As President and CEO Gary Smith noted, “ These are very different times that will define who we are and who we will be. I appreciate all you are doing for PowerSouth and the people we serve.” That includes safely delivering reliable, affordable power.

Planning ahead to keep operations running smoothly during times of crisis is nothing new for PowerSouth. Careful preparation is helping the cooperative adapt and respond to challenges while protecting the health of its employees.

With nearly half a million homes, businesses and industries depending on PowerSouth and its 20 members for reliable power, procedures are in place to protect the personnel who help deliver it.

Employees who can have been working remotely. PowerSouth’s front-line workers — including those staffing the system operations center, operators in control rooms at the power plants, utilities personnel, operations and

maintenance workers, and those monitoring PowerSouth’s transmission lines, substations and telecom systems — continue to restore outages and keep power flowing while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Thanking all PowerSouth employees, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Damon Morgan also mentioned behind-the-scenes personnel providing vital support. From custodial workers and safety professionals to those cutting payroll checks and managing computer technologies, “We couldn’t do it without you,” Morgan said.

Applauding medical professionals and others fighting this pandemic on the front lines, Morgan also praised PowerSouth employees for their part in continuing to provide reliable electric service. “You are enabling the medical mission to continue and helping those sheltering at home to do so in a comfortable environment,” he said.

Along with utilities nationwide, PowerSouth’s members are going the extra mile to help those stressed about paying bills after a loss

of income. In addition to providing tools and resources to help manage energy costs at a time when usage at home is climbing, several have suspended disconnections for a set period, waived late fees and offered special payment arrangements.

PowerSouth’s distribution members have also implemented measures to protect employees and the public by closing offices to walk-in traffic. Online and mobile resources allow people to conduct business with the utilities 24/7. Customer service representatives still staff phones. Expanded drive-thru and payment kiosk services provide people with other options to pay their bills.

As Morgan reminded everyone, “This will be over, and we’ll celebrate again together when that happens.”

Until then, PowerSouth and its distribution members will continue to demonstrate true heart for the consumers and communities they serve by doing everything in their power to help. g

Doing everything in our power

Operating Technician Cody Williams helps keep things running smoothly at the McIntosh Plant.

Joel Daniels in Safety Services is part of a team working to keep headquartersemployees safe during this time.

Line Technicians Joey Short and Shane Culbreth, along with other PowerSouth crews on the front lines, maintain the transmission system and quickly restore outages to keep those sheltering at home connected.

Jason Kelley (back) and Scott Brooks in Energy Services monitor PowerSouth’s system and help keep power flowing.

55

CEO COLUMN

Is Solar Cheaper Than Natural Gas?I apologize for all the numbers. They are geeky, but important if you are interested in the true cost of electricity. If you aren’t, you can stop reading now or skip to the fourth from last paragraph and see the answer.

A few weeks ago, environmental protesters argued that the Alabama Public Service Commission should mandate that Alabama Power build solar generation instead of its proposed natural gas combined cycle plant because solar power is cheaper. The Rocky Mountain Institute reports that today clean renewable solar power is cheaper than natural gas-fired generation. Bloomberg Energy, USA Today and other media outlets also report that solar power is now cheaper than fossil fuel generation.

The price of solar power, especially utility-scale solar power, has declined dramatically over the past few years. The International Renewable Energy Agency states the price of solar power has dropped 84% over the past eight years. PowerSouth has had recent experience with both natural gas and utility-scale solar power. I have discussed PowerSouth’s generation plans in these articles a number of times. We will close our coal-fired Lowman Plant in Leroy, Alabama, in October and build in its place a state-of-the-art 693 megawatt (MW) natural gas combined cycle plant. The new plant will cost more than $500 million to construct. We expect it to operate at a capacity factor of at least 85%, which means on average it will produce its stated 693 megawatt output 85% of the time. At that capacity factor, the fixed cost (or capacity cost) of owning the combined cycle plant will be approximately $8.90 per megawatt hour (MWH). The energy cost (or variable cost) to operate the plant will be dependent upon the price of natural gas and its transportation cost to the plant. At $2.00/MMBTU (when I wrote this article, daily gas was $1.68/MMBTU), plus operations and maintenance costs, the variable cost of energy from the combined cycle plant will be approximately $20.63 per MWH. Therefore, the total generation cost of electricity from the combined cycle plant (with $2.00/MMBTU natural gas) will be approximately $29.53 per MWH.

Additionally, we recently signed a contract to purchase solar power from an 80-MW solar generation facility starting in 2022. The solar facility will operate at a capacity factor of about 25%, which means it will provide its promised 80 MW about 25% of the time. We will buy the output of the solar facility on a dollar-per-MWH fixed cost basis when energy is produced. The cost of energy under our solar contract is very attractive at a generation cost of about $22.00 per MWH. The cost of this solar-generated electricity at $22.00 per MWH is cheaper than the cost of electricity from our natural gas combined cycle plant at $29.53 per MWH. However, that comparison doesn’t even start to tell the whole story. Electric consumers in developed countries demand power to be available whenever they need or want it, not just when the sun is shining. The combined cycle plant is fully dispatchable and will provide electricity when people need it, whether the sun shines or not. Solar power doesn’t generate at night and is limited on cloudy days. Solar power must be paired with something else before it is as reliable as natural gas. The solution most often offered is battery storage. Batteries can be deployed at utility scale, but additional solar generation must be installed to charge the batteries while the sun is shining so the batteries can provide power at nights and on cloudy days.

Batteries are designed for specific discharge cycles. Most utility scale batteries have four-hour discharge cycles; therefore, at least three

sets of batteries will be needed to cover the nighttime hours and provide a reserve for cloudy days.

Battery costs are decreasing, but based upon recent proposals of $1,500,000 per MW, the total cost of battery storage is about $92.33 per MWH, in addition to the $22.00 per MWH cost of the solar power to charge the battery.

Very conservatively, the total cost of the solar power with battery storage will be an average of $56.63 per MWH, assuming solar 15 hours a day and batteries 9 hours. With natural gas at $2.00/MMBTU, that cost is about 92% higher than the cost of electricity from our planned combined cycle plant.

Why then do many statements that solar is cheaper than natural gas go unchallenged? The information is hard to find, and calculations are difficult. Too often the cost of pure solar when the sun is shining is offered as the comparison to natural gas. That is not a true comparison - electricity must be available on demand, not just when the sun is shining. And, finally some people aren’t truthful, even to themselves.

Given a choice, a huge majority of people will choose the lowest cost and most reliable source of electricity. Today, that is clearly natural gas.

I hope you have a good month. g

Gary SmithPowerSouth President and CEO

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66

EMPLOYEE NEWS

Service anniversaries

Tim WhatleyLegal Affairs

26 years, May 2

Craig KilpatrickComp. Info. Services

30 years, May 30

Cindy BozemanFinance & Accounting

30 years, May 19

Kenny ShiverCentral Generation

19 years, May 14

Terry HallEnergy Services18 years, May 13

Michael HarkinsCentral Generation

18 years, May 6

James TaylorTransmission O&M

16 years, May 17

Michael MitchellTelecom Services 31 years, May 1

Lisa HaneyCommunications 29 years, May 28

Chuck DuttonTransmission O&M

19 years, May 7

Flint HarrelsonT&D Technical Services

32 years, May 31

Gail BlackmonSubstation O&M32 years, May 2

Earl HendersonComp. Info. Services

30 years, May 7

Eric CopelandSafety Services

18 years, May 28

Cory BryanSubstation O&M14 years, May 8

Carl SherrouseTransmission O&M

13 years, May 1

Gary GoldmanLowman

14 years, May 22

Anna StephensMember Services12 years, May 27

Josh BeverlySubstation O&M 12 years, May 12

T.J. HarrisonSubstation O&M12 years, May 19

Blake OdomPlanning, Reg. & Compliance

9 years, May 16

Clay CarterCentral Generation

8 years, May 15

Neil HowellCentral Generation

8 years, May 15

Merrill DavisSafety Services9 years, May 26

Mitch PughFuels & Energy Resources

7 years, May 22

Wesley PearceChief Operations7 years, May 20

Tonya MaramanT&D Eng. & Const.

2 years, May 29

Colby SandersonEngineering

2 years, May 29

Ryan WilliamsEngineering

2 years, May 29

Matt CanantTransmission O&M

1 year, May 13

Trent CarnleyEnvironmental Svcs.

1 year, May 28

Landon HughesEngineering Division

1 year, May 29

Jennifer ChesteenHR Services

1 year, May 31

Michael ByrdTransmission O&M 36 years, May 21

Lisa VeaseyPlanning, Reg. & Compliance

34 years, May 12

Kim BowersHuman Resources

7 years, May 28

Thomas SmithCentral Generation

8 years, May 29

Charles GunterTelecom Services

6 years, May 12

Hunter DuboseTelecom Services6 years, May 19

Chris DunbarPower Supply

5 years, May 28

Johnny WilsonComp. Info. Services

4 years, May 23

Madi McCormickComp. Info. Services

2 years, May 29

Matthew FowlerCentral Generation

8 years, May 29

Waylon DunnCentral Generation

19 years, May 14

Greg BennettCentral Generation

8 years, May 15

High school and college graduates will be honored in the June Powerlines. Send your high-quality photo, along with the graduate’s name, degree and school, to christi.scruggs@powersouth.com by Friday, May 8.

777

EMPLOYEE NEWS

MAY

22POWERSOUTHMonthly Board Meeting

Happy Birthday!May 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bedsole

Lamar CroweEthan Hall

J.P. MilsteadChris Moseley

Al MosleyDavid Purvis

May 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craig AndersonBrian Reeves

May 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt DiamondCasey Jackson

May 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bill BlountWayne Harrison

May 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clay CarterMay 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian BlackmonMay 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Bryan

Flint HarrelsonDonovan Smith

May 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa BeasleyPaul Dubose

May 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tommy AverillHunter Brown

May 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne PhillipsMay 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason StearnsMay 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tresa MiddletonMay 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Barefoot

Hunter DuboseDewayne Jackson

May 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sammy HoggMay 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marty Chesteen

Sherry CriswellJohnny King

Buddy ReynoldsMay 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jessica SingletonMay 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ty BallardMay 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtney Bowers

Brian FlemingMay 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Bowers

Mark DaytonClark Sanders

May 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .J.R. HarrellMay 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Breland

Chad JenkinsMay 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cindy BozemanMay 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert BeckhamMay 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debbie Bracewell

John WigginsMay 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Avery Driver

Percy HarrisMay 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baynard Ward

Welcome Emma Clark, General Clerk in Communications, effective March 9.

Promotions David McDuffie was promoted to Plant Supervisor from Operating Technician / Maintenance 2 at Central Generation, effective March 16.

Dylan Hopper was promoted to District Crew Leader from Service Technician 9 in Transmission O&M, effective March 9.

Joey Short was promoted to Crew Leader - Transmission from Technician Lines 9 in Transmission O&M, effective March 9.

Heath Williamson was promoted to Crew Leader - Transmission from Technician Lines 9 in Transmission O&M, effective March 9.

Retirements Best wishes to Asa Landon, Fleet Technician I in Transmission O&M, who retired March 31 after 20 years of service.

Congratulations to Jeff Bundrick, Plant Supervisor at Central Generation, who retired March 31 after 41 years of service.

Good-bye and good luck Sara Ballard, Business Intern in Financial Planning, effective March 6.

Ashley Martin, Work Study at Central Generation, effective March 19.

Comings and goings

Stay SAFE while using electricity at home and work

Replace frayed or damaged cords, plugs, outlet covers

and surge protectors.

Don’t overload outlets.

Call 811 to have underground lines

marked before digging.

Never operate electrical equipment in

wet locations.

Have a qualified electrician repair damaged

electrical tools or equipment.

#ElectricalSafetyMonth

Headquarters employees should wear business casual attire.

P.O. Box 550Andalusia, AL 36420

May photo contest winner: Heather Anderson

Congratulations to Heather Anderson (Accounting) for winning this month’s photo contest. May’s photo contest theme was Sports.

June’s photo contest theme is Rainbows.

IMPORTANT: When sending photos taken with a mobile device (cellphone), be sure to send the highest quality possible.

The submission deadline for the June contest is May 15. Please submit only one entry per employee per month.

Send entries to Christi Scruggs at christi.scruggs@powersouth.com or via interoffice mail. g

Powerlines is published monthly for the employees and members of PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.

Vice President, Member Services & CommunicationsLeigh Grantham

Communications ManagerBaynard Ward

Digital & Creative Services Coordinator, Powerlines EditorChristi Scruggs, CCC

Public Relations Coordinator Josh Richards

PhotographyJohn Dean | Chris Flood

Communications Intern Sara Wilson

Communications DepartmentPowerSouth Energy Cooperative2027 East Three Notch Street (36421)P.O. Box 550 (36420) | Andalusia, ALinfo@powersouth.com

www.powersouth.com

Send comments or story suggestions to christi.scruggs@powersouth.com or josh.richards@powersouth.com.

To request a printed version of this issue:Lisa Haney | (334) 427-3712lisa.haney@powersouth.com

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