Winter Patrol

Plant Crews Ramp Up Vigilance in Frigid Weather

As a bitter winter storm blew into Weakley County in west Tennessee, just south of the Kentucky border, plant manager Bobby Morgan got a call from his overnight crew at Gleason Combustion Turbine Plant.

There was a whiteout.

To the southwest, Lagoon Creek Combined Cycle Plant near Brownsville, Tennessee, was getting clobbered by the same storm.

And across the state, at Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, operations manager Glenn Macdonald’s crew watched the mercury plummet.

The storm held temperatures below freezing for more than 48 hours straight.

Through it all, crews at Tennessee Valley Authority plants patrolled around the clock. They continually monitored TVA’s generating assets. And they adjusted equipment for optimal performance in the harsh conditions.

When extreme cold – or heat – hits, TVA and its local power company partners and customers mount a full-court press to meet surging demand for power.

The plant personnel on the front lines are crucial in this work – they know 10 million people across seven states are counting on their expertise to keep power flowing when it’s needed most.

“We monitor equipment and make sure that everything is running perfectly,” Morgan said. “If issues come up, we find a way to resolve them. I've got a real good group of people, and they know their business. They know their jobs."

Combustion turbine technician trainee Jacob Reed checks equipment at Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant in Haywood County, Tennessee.

Boots on the Ground

TVA has made significant investments in recent years to ensure the reliability and resilience of its gas, hydro and coal fleet in temperatures well below freezing. The work has included extensive upgrades of heating equipment and insulation, as well as windbreaks and other cold-weather enclosures. In addition, cold weather protocols at each plant have been strengthened.

But even with all the preparation, there’s no substitute for boots on the ground – highly experienced staff making rounds in the cold and sometimes in the dark to keep watch over equipment.

At places like Gleason, Lagoon Creek and Kingston, crew members take careful steps to safeguard weather-sensitive components.

Coal and gas plants are intricate. Understanding how all the pieces fit together takes extensive training and experience. And optimizing performance under extreme conditions is sort of like an Olympic-caliber team sport.

“Most people don't realize what it takes,” Kingston’s Macdonald said. “We’ve got people that can make it happen and make it look easy, but it's far from easy.”

At Paradise Combined Cycle Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky, the Green River was already flooding when a bitter winter storm rolled in.

Making Rounds

Operating rounds are a daily fact of life at the plants. At least once per shift, plant staff record dozens of data points on an iPad, and the data get uploaded into the centralized software TVA uses for tracking and maintaining equipment at its facilities.

Rounds become even more important in extreme weather, such as the storm that caused the whiteout at Gleason, which brought as much as 6 inches of snow around the region, along with temperatures down to 4 degrees Fahrenheit and wind chills considerably lower.

“We have specific rounds that we do during cold weather, which are over and above our normal operating rounds,” said plant manager Jeff Montgomery at Lagoon Creek. “With cold weather rounds, we document and track every four hours to ensure that we can act proactively.”

His fellow plant manager Jim Phelps, of Paradise Combined Cycle Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky, said that staffing – as well as frequency – gets increased in cold weather.

“We bring in extra folks, especially overnight, so that the same folks are not outside in the cold all the time,” Phelps said. “We’ve got a pretty regimented process.”

Safety protocols are rigorous. No one goes outside alone, and patrols carry backup communications equipment, even if they only expect to be out for a few minutes. Maintenance staff are also on hand around the clock to support operations personnel.

Everyone keeps a vigilant watch. If they see any instability or fluctuation, they make adjustments immediately.

Phelps said TVA’s campaign to add insulation, temporary enclosures and temporary heating – along with plant staff’s vigilance – has paid off over the past few years.

“We have really seen improvement in the resilience and robustness to operate in cold weather.”

Combined cycle operations technician trainee Gavin Templeton checks a heat trace panel as snow falls at Lagoon Creek Combined Cycle Plant near Brownsville, Tennessee.

Commuting and Safety

Staffing the plants in freezing conditions can present challenges.

During the February storm that brought the whiteout to Gleason, operators of the pumped-storage hydro facility at Raccoon Mountain were standing by with 1,700 megawatts of reserve generation.

But to reach the Raccoon Mountain powerhouse, they had to travel several miles along a winding TVA access road.

Brining that road to keep it passable in freezing weather is the job of facilities staff, plant manager Richard “R.T.” Turner said.

“Just like our plant staff, they realize that we ultimately have a responsibility to the Valley and we’ve got to get people in and out of here to operate the plant,” Turner said. “They take that job very seriously.”

Across the Valley region, many plant personnel commute more than an hour to their jobs. The plants stock cots and frozen food so staff can hunker down on site during extreme weather, if need be.

But despite their best efforts to make arrangements in advance, crews sometimes encounter formidable conditions just getting to work.

At Paradise, the winter storm came on the heels of flooding that raised the Green River to its fourth-highest crest on record. By the time the snow hit, low-lying areas in the rural region were flooded – including fields alongside county roads that access the plant.

The flooding, coupled with low visibility from the snow, made extremely cautious driving necessary.

Plant manager Phelps said his 20-minute drive to work took an hour and a half, deadpanning: “It wasn't an hour and a half of a nice, casual, sightseeing drive.”

In the control room at Raccoon Mountain, senior operator Chris Quarles, right, and hydro technician Brandon Wilkerson oversee four units that can generate 1,700 megawatts.

Job Satisfaction

When the temperatures came back up to normal, all the preparedness and watchfulness had paid off, according to site manager Kevin Payne at Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant southeast of Brownsville, Tennessee.

During the storm, his facility pivoted so the four combustion turbines – normally used to supply power for short daily peaks in demand – could run 24/7. His team had to prepare equipment and adjust staffing, as well as coordinate with gas suppliers to make sure there would be enough fuel to operate around the clock.

“We really prepare, and so the actual runs went very smoothly,” Payne said. “There's a lot of satisfaction. All the pre-planning we did worked well, and there's a lot of positive feelings that come out of that.”

Back at Gleason, Morgan felt especially grateful as he reflected back on the morning of the whiteout.

“It was snowing to beat the band,” he said.

Local schools were canceled, and Morgan knew that his wife – a teacher – and two high-school-age sons were safe at home.

“I’m glad that I can go to work and they can sit at home, the power on, and not have an issue with the basic necessities,” Morgan said. “I've worked for TVA for 24 years, so I've got a lot of satisfaction out of my job, knowing that on these cold mornings we're the ones on the front line keeping people safe and warm.”

Photo Gallery

Electrician Jacob Reynolds works on a station air compressor at Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee.

Combined cycle operations technician Jarred Williams inspects a cold-weather enclosure at Lagoon Creek Combined Cycle Plant.

PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE: At about 4 a.m., amid frigid temps, assistant unit operator E.B. Slouka makes rounds on the roof of Kingston Fossil Plant’s powerhouse.