GALLERY: Huntington and Hunter Power Plants receive excellence in operations awards

By Patsy Stoddard

On Monday there was cause for much celebration at the Huntington Power Plant and the Hunter Power Plant. Both plants were awarded for their excellence in operations. Darrell Cunningham, plant manager at the Huntington Power Plant welcomed everyone out to a breakfast served at the plant to employees and visitors. Rocky Mountain President Gary Hoogeveen was in attendance for the event.
These industry awards mark the second year in a row recognizing the work at the Hunter, Huntington and Currant Creek plants. Pres. Hoogeveen said, “Before becoming the president of Rocky Mountain Power, I was at the Kern River Pipeline. It’s a pleasure to be president of this company. Congratulations to the Huntington Plant and congratulations from Cindy Crane our CEO. Congratulations to all the employees at Pacifi-Corp. Huntington Plant is the runner-up this year. This is a big accomplishment and no small feat. You compete against 39 power plants and 117 units which create 27 megawatts of power. Huntington Plant is an important part of a balanced market. We create $120 million in value to our customers.”
“Thanks go to our customers. This award is for being excellent providers for a low cost. Safety is paramount. Our goal is to be in the top 10 percent in safety. What is it that Huntington and Hunter Power Plants do to achieve this award. They pay attention to detail, do it right the first time and focus on procedure. Make every decision every day with the customers in mind. There’s no better indicator you are doing that than receiving this award. Be great power providers and you guys are doing exactly that,” said Hoogeveen.
Cunningham said, “This award represents team work and commitment. In my opinion, we’ve created a culture here and that culture continues to develop and improve. This culture began in the early 1970s. It rolls over into our communities. We have coaches, mayors, Sunday school teachers and councilmen. This is what we bring to our communities when we’re away from the plant.
“This whole group together is bringing this culture to Carbon and Emery counties. Safety is our focus. I am honored to be the managing director and I’m glad to be here,” said Cunningham.
Dale Probasco from Navigant was on hand to present the award to Darrell Cunningham. “Huntington is the runner-up this year, Hunter topped you, but the difference is not great. Hunter went up slightly in three areas and in two areas, Huntington was not quite as good as last year. Keep doing what you’re doing. This is quite an accomplishment. I visit power plants all around the world. The work you do here amazes me. We’ve started working with a power plant in the Ukraine. They are working to improve their capacity from 35 to 50 percent. Those are their goals. There are others who are struggling. In India a plant improved from 45 percent to 60 percent and this was a significant improvement for them. It’s amazing to maintain the availability and reliability that you do here. There are challenges ahead. You have obviously met those challenges.”
Probasco related how the award winners are selected. They look at availability of power. Are you there when you’re needed? They look at reliability and also variability. “As we prepare and do the calculations for the awards and find the top performers we then apply the safety factors. There are some plants who operate well, but didn’t meet the safety factors. You do a great job here. I grew up in Utah and worked with Utah Power. I live in Minnesota now, but I look forward to coming to Utah to present these awards. I am looking forward to coming back next year. I am heading into retirement. I am 72 now and I told the company after next year, I am cutting back to half time. Be proud of your accomplishments here,” concluded Probasco.
Probasco is with Navigant Generation Knowledge Service. The Plant Operational Excellence Awards recognize coal-fired and combined-cycle power plants in the United States that have demonstrated excellence in cost and operational management, as well as improved performance and reliability.
Hunter was the top performer in the small coal-fueled plant category, and Huntington was the runner up, flipping the results from last year. The Currant Creek natural gas plant was the top performer in the combined-cycle category. The awards are based on a review of cost and performance data over the most recent five-year period (2013-2017).
Spencer Hall, marketing and communications manager said, “The operational excellence demonstrated at Hunter, Huntington and Currant Creek and all our generating facilities allows us the flexibility to deliver power from a diverse mix of resources. We’re very proud of the professionalism we continue to see from our people operating these plants. Their ingenuity, hard work and dedication to each other’s safety deserves recognition and creates great value for our customers.”
After the breakfast at the Huntington Plant the group moved to the Hunter Plant where they hosted a luncheon for their employees.
The group was welcomed by plant manager Laren Huntsman. “Welcome to everyone. This is a great day for the Hunter Plant. What an accomplishment for PacifiCorp to have two coal fired plants and a gas turbine plant win these awards. What an accomplishment. This speaks to the quality of people we have working for us and the kind of people you are. This award encompasses many parts and takes a wholistic look at how we are doing as a power plant. I would like to recognize an even greater accomplishment. We are at 637 days without a reportable injury. That’s more than 700,000 man hours with 218 employees. I want to recognize you for looking out for one another. This is a large family and I tell everyone there’s no piece of equipment or anything out here that’s worth getting injured over. I recognize you for understanding that and acting in a safe manner.”
Huntsman went on to say there are challenges in the energy industry. Last year when the plant was recognized it was on the day of the solar eclipse. Solar and other renewables have become part of Rocky Mountain Power. They are alive and well. “We need a source of energy to be able to respond when renewables are not available. We need to back off and allow renewables to come onto the system. We need to be flexible. That’s how we became and remain a low cost energy provider. That’s what makes us successful. We need to make sure we’re flexible. We have people here who have done that. We have the next generation of employees coming up and we need to make sure that transfer of knowledge is taking place. You’ve responded well to those challenges. We are the preferred provider. We provide low cost power to the rate payers. It’s been a combined team effort. This is your award. You’re the ones who have made this happen,” said Huntsman.
Probasco spoke to the Hunter Plant team members, “Congratulations on being a top performer. These categories are challenging. There’s only been one top performer for three years running and they are no longer in operation. It’s a sign of what our challenges are. You’ve met these challenges very successfully.
“This award is a comprehensive view of how you’ve been able to perform in four areas and in safety. Reliability, flexibility, being able to back down as needed or ramp up as needed. We do a significant analysis and then rank the plants from top to bottom and then we factor in the safety. If the company is not in the top half in safety, they aren’t eligible for the award. When we tell them, they were a top performer, but didn’t make the safety requirement, they listen, they take it seriously and work to improve their safety. The differences between you and Huntington were very small. Keep up the good work,” said Probasco.
Company president Hoogeveen spoke to the Hunter employees. “This is a tremendous accomplishment. You’re creating value for our customers. Because of what you deliver, our customers create $120 million in value. What a remarkable achievement your safety record is, you should be really proud of that. Our customers matter, thanks for being great providers for our customers. Make every decision with the customer in mind. You guys are knocking it out of the park. At Hunter Plant we recognize what it takes to be great providers of power, congratulations for doing that.”