After 119 years of generating power for the City of Owensboro, the Elmer Smith Power Plant used the last of its coal around 1:30 a.m. Friday. Going forward, the utility will purchase its electricity from Henderson-based Big River Electric.
Owensboro Municipal Utilities began considering their future power supply in 2013. They based the decision to stop producing electricity locally on factors such as the cost to OMU customers, reliability, and the rate stability.
On June 22, 2018, the Owensboro Board of Commissioners approved a contract to purchase power from Big Rivers Electric Corporation.
Nearly two years ago, City commissioners also approved a contract to purchase solar power to expand OMU’s power supply portfolio. The contract included buying 32 megawatts of solar power from Ashwood Solar I, LLC starting in 2022.
Ashwood Solar I is jointly owned by MAP Energy and Open Road Renewables, who built an 800-acre, 86-megawatt facility in Lyon County — which is in the top two percent of the nation’s largest solar plants.
The Big Rivers contract resulted in OMU ending all operations at the Elmer Smith Generating Station on June 1, 2020.
In 2018, OMU said the municipality’s two coal-power production units were aging significantly, and that lower power market prices added to the decision to shut down the Elmer Smith station, calling it the most cost-effective option for OMU customers.
OMU General Manager Kevin Frizzell called the decision “bittersweet,” as it means those working at the Elmer Smith Generating Station would lose their jobs. However, a cost-of-service study conducted by third-party firm Burns & McDonnell found that OMU customers would save an estimated $7.27 per month, or approximately 6.1%, by June 2020 if OMU were to switch energy providers.
State Senator Matt Castlen said on Friday he believed OMU and the utility commission made a mistake by closing down the Elmer Smith Station and switching to Big Rivers Electric, calling the move a “knee-jerk reaction” that would hurt the local economy through job losses at an already vulnerable time for the community.
“As a senator who is a small business owner myself, people of our community having an income is very important to me,” he said. “It’s not just the job loss, but all over the country we’ve put restrictions [on coal power production] and we’re regulating ourselves out of a job. It’s a sad day here in Owensboro when you see the infrastructure shut down that created our power.”
Castlen said people don’t realize the impact that would come from closing down the Elmer Smith Station, as the move would negatively affect other entities such as Western Kentucky Minerals, supply houses, and construction crews such as iron workers and boilermakers who maintained the station as well.
Castlen, who can see the Elmer Smith Station from his own workplace at Castlen Steel, noted the difficulty of watching the closure firsthand.
“Yesterday it was smoking — today it wasn’t,” he said.
Because of government regulations on clean power and renewable energy resources, OMU will never be able to rebuild that infrastructure after shutting it down, Castlen added.
“It was one of the oldest coal-fired plants still operating, and I feel that rebuilding or updating would have been the better decision,” he said. “It was one of the economic engines for our community. The only fortunate thing at this time is that we reached a contract with Big Rivers, which is part of our community.”
Editor’s note: The original headline read “Elmer Smith Station shuts down; Big Rivers now running Owensboro’s electricity.” OMU is still in charge of the city’s electricity and is purchasing it from Big Rivers. The original article also called Kevin Frizzell the president rather than general manager.
