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Power shortages, rolling blackouts, and skyrocketing electricity bills have grabbed their share of news headlines. But reports along those lines are virtually nil in areas of the Southeast served by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Southern Company owns several power companies operating as public utilities in the Southeast, including Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, and Savannah Electric and Power Company. Through other subsidiaries, the company acquires, develops, builds, owns, and operates power production and delivery facilities and provides a broad range of energy-related services to utilities and industrial companies in selected countries throughout the world. Southern Company posted revenues in 2000 of $10.1 billion with net income of $994 million. The company’s record has been strong, and it has been maintained in the face of steady population growth in the Southeast. “California’s electricity crisis is primarily due to a lack of generating capacity in the area,” said Southern Company’s Keith Russell, project manager, New Generation Projects. “That has resulted in high wholesale prices and rolling blackouts for some of their customers. “Southern Company’s new generation projects are intended to ensure that the rapidly growing energy demand in the Southeast will be met,” Russell said. “The company’s goal is to provide sufficient electricity to prevent power interruptions and to ensure that a scarcity of power does not drive up prices.” The company’s new generation projects include two combined cycle plants currently under construction. Plant Wansley, in Roopville, Georgia, was begun in March 2000 and is scheduled for completion in April 2002. The two-on-one combined cycle facility will have two 570-megawatt units for a total capacity of 1,140 megawatts. It is located in west central Georgia. Work began in May 2000 on Plant Goat Rock in Smiths, Alabama, and is scheduled for completion in April 2002. The 570 megawatt facility is in east central Alabama. The two plants utilize gas-fired combustion turbines for power generation. The exhaust gases from these turbines convert water to steam in a heat recovery steam generator. The steam is then used to drive a steam turbine to generate more power. State-of-the-art technology reduces emissions to a minimum, providing an efficient and environmentally responsible way to meet regional demand growth. AMERICAN supplied 23,000 feet of pipe required for the two jobs. The Plant Wansley job required 11,000 feet of 30-inch Fastite® for the cooling tower make-up line. Plant Goat Rock required 6,000 feet of 36-inch Fastite® , Pressure Class 150, for the cooling tower make-up line. Also required was 6,000 feet of 18-inch Fastite® , Pressure Class 250, for the cooling tower blow-down line. The use of ductile iron pipe rather than high-density polyethylene pipe resulted in a cost savings of approximately $300,000 at Plant Wansley and $100,000 at Goat Rock. Part of the cost savings was from material cost and part was from installation cost. “The ground in much of the pipe installation areas is rocky, which would have required additional precautions to prevent puncturing had we used high-density polyethylene pipe,” Russell said. “AMERICAN offered the most cost-effective and field-adaptable product,” according to Mike Heitmann, a division manager with the Fairhope, Alabama, office of Garney Companies, the construction subcontractor for the two jobs. “They developed a design for the pipelines as well as the most cost-effective solution for the circumstances we faced. The owner saved a tremendous amount of money versus other options being evaluated and received a product with a much higher pressure rating.” For the Plant Wansley job, installation took place primarily in a sandy clay mix soil. A granite-type rock was encountered along roughly 25 percent of the route. Garney also crossed a 300-foot section of swamp area as well as an 80-foot-wide creek crossing. Conditions at Goat Rock – including the rocky conditions – were similar. “AMERICAN worked well with our schedule,” Heitmann said. “The pipe was on site when we requested it to be and the correct amount was shipped according to our laying schedule. AMERICAN’s service is second to none. Most companies are just trying to sell a product, but AMERICAN spends time getting things lined up properly and developing solutions. They visited our sites several times after the pipe was delivered to ensure we had everything we needed.” Heitmann worked closely with AMERICAN sales and customer service representatives prior to construction to develop pipeline designs best-suited for the owner’s needs. Southern Company was open to benefits laid out for a ductile iron pipeline – as it was open to other ideas throughout the construction. “This was a great example of contractor, supplier, and owner coming together to make things happen in a short time frame,” Heitmann said. “I can’t say enough about Georgia Power’s willingness to work with everyone to develop the best solutions and allow us to meet the tight deadlines. Having an owner like Georgia Power on your team makes all the difference in the world.”

The installation route for the Plant Goat Rock project winds its way through the woods near Smiths, Alabama. Its flexibility and ease of installation make AMERICAN pipe ideal for such situations. Visible in the trench are both 36- and 18-inch pipelines, which were used for the cooling tower make-up line and cooling tower blow-down line, respectively. PHOTO BY JIM WATTERSON AMERICAN supplied 23,000 feet of pipe for the two Southern Company projects. Here, a section is headed for a trench in the Plant Wansley area. The use of AMERICAN pipe in the design proposed for these jobs saved Southern Company roughly $400,000. PHOTO BY BILL CARSON

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