Zachary Fitzgerald
The $120 million power plant that began operating nearly a year ago in Morgan City is putting cost-effective power on the electricity grid for communities throughout the region to use, a plant executive said.
Cordell Grand, general manager of Louisiana Energy and Power Authority, spoke during the April 25 Morgan City Council meeting.
LEPA dedicated the natural gas-fired, combined-cycle gas power plant May 20, 2016. Officials said it would help stabilize long-term power rates for member communities by reducing their reliance on less efficient power sources.
Since then, the power plant has been regularly putting power onto the grid for customers to use, Grand said.
Midcontinent Independent System Operator works “to optimize electric generation throughout the grid,” he said.
MISO determines when power plants in the region, including the Morgan City plant, should put power onto the grid.
“They want the most economical energy working at all times,” Grand said.
LEPA shares the power grid with Cleco and Entergy.
Officials are trying to make sure everything runs smoothly at the plant.
“We’re ironing out the kinks with this and just about there,” Grand said. “We’re looking forward to some good runs this summer. ... I think Morgan City’s the winner here with reliability.”
Six LEPA member municipalities, including Morgan City, Houma, Jonesville, Plaquemine, Rayne and Vidalia, have a share of the plant. Morgan City owns a 10-megawatt share of the 64-megawatt plant. Houma owns the largest share of the plant at 26 megawatts.
Officials broke ground on the plant in April 2014. In November 2009, plans to build the new power plant started at a LEPA operating committee meeting.
The facility was the first power plant to be built in south Louisiana since the 1970s. Officials expect the plant to have a life of 40 to 45 years. LEPA began issuing bonds in 2013 to fund the construction.
One benefit of the new plant is that it provides local power generation for Morgan City.
which is important for an area that’s prone to hurricane activity and occasional power reliability issues, Grand said.
Officials constructed the plant to withstand hurricanes and continue to supply power.
The plant uses natural gas in a combustion turbine engine that generates heat and then transfers the heat to a boiler to generate steam.
Workers recently installed silencers to reduce noise when the plant starts up. The plant uses recycled wastewater from the city to cool the plant, and, therefore, saves money while still being environmentally friendly, Grand said.