Kemper

Tuesday morning brought me to Kemper, another combined-cycle generating station. Unlike many of the acquired facilities I visited over the last two days, Kemper is special because it was built directly by our enterprise from the ground up.

Kemper is a highly flexible, high-tech asset. It is capable of jumping from a complete cold start to full 100% generating power in just 20 minutes to manage sudden high-demand grid spikes.

Kemper features state-of-the-art dual-fuel capability. While it primarily burns natural gas piped directly to the facility, its units can seamlessly switch over to low-sulfur diesel fuel (distillate fuel oil) if natural gas pipeline supplies ever face regional curtailments or shortages.Now, when people hear 'Kemper Plant' in Mississippi, they often immediately think of Mississippi Power's infamous, multi-billion-dollar 'Kemper County Energy Facility' that made national headlines for cost overruns. I always have to clarify: thankfully, our organization has zero connection to that project! Our Kemper plant is a reliable, highly efficient asset. Just sayin'!

We need to talk about the roads leading into Kemper. The access roads to the plant seem to have the hiccups! The concrete expansion joints were expanded, and every 3rd or 5th joint created a noticeable bump. Riding a heavy motorcycle across rhythmically spaced concrete bumps made for a very interesting ride!

And worse, the upcoming ride from Kemper to the next plant on the map was a stretch I had been genuinely dreading for an entire year...

More on Kemper Here and Here!