Allen combined cycle

Midway through my ride toward the hotel on Sunday evening, I pulled over to re-evaluate my route. Originally, my itinerary had me visiting two local Memphis-area sites on Monday morning. But as anyone who has ever driven through Memphis knows, Monday morning rush hour traffic can turn a quick cross-town ride into a crawling gridlock nightmare.

I made a tactical decision: shift plans and tackle the Memphis cross-town run right now on Sunday afternoon while traffic was light. That turned out to be one of the absolute smartest decisions of the entire trip. The highway was clear, the bike cruised smoothly, and I avoided hours of stop-and-go heat the following morning.

When I arrived at the Allen facility, the sheer scale of the property immediately stood out. Allen features a rather large overall physical footprint, but only a portion of the vast property is currently occupied by active generation assets. From what I could see looking across the grounds, there is plenty of room for future additions or new infrastructure down the road.Allen has a rich historical lineage within our system. The site originally operated as a coal-fired steam plant for decades before our organization transitioned the location into a modern, highly efficient combined-cycle natural gas facility. As I rode around the accessible perimeter, two specific details grabbed my attention:1. Solar Integration: The reservation features a noticeable solar footprint integrated directly alongside the main plant, blending renewable generation with natural gas infrastructure.2. The Industrial Aroma: There was a distinct, heavy industrial smell in the air. To be clear, it wasn't coming from our facility itself, but from the surrounding neighborhood. Memphis happens to serve as a major regional fuel depot, surrounded by industrial storage tanks, refining operations, and heavy transport hubs.Navigating through the industrial heart of Memphis on two wheels offered a stark, impressive contrast to the quiet rural backroads of Gleason. It highlighted just how diverse our generation footprint really is—from secluded rural peakers to massive urban industrial hubs keeping the lights on in major cities. Read more about Allen Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here and Here!