Kinder Morgan, Southern to build 500-Mw plant

May 11, 2000
Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) subsidiary Kinder Morgan Power Co., Houston, and Southern Co. unit Southern Energy Inc., Atlanta, on Wednesday announced plans to build a 550-Mw gas-fired electric power plant in Pulaski County, southeast of Little Rock, Ark.


Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) subsidiary Kinder Morgan Power Co., Houston, and Southern Co. unit Southern Energy Inc., Atlanta, plan to build a 550-Mw gas-fired electric power plant in Pulaski County, southeast of Little Rock, Ark.

Construction is to begin this summer on the $250 million plant, and operations start-up is scheduled for Apr. 1, 2002. The plant will mostly operate during daily intermediate and peak-demand periods to provide wholesale electricity to other utility companies. "The additional electricity should help protect against the rolling brownouts and blackouts that have been occurring in this and other parts of the country," said Anthony Lannie, president of Kinder Morgan Power Co.

The natural gas-fired plant will be the first in a series of power plants Kinder Morgan will build using its proprietary Orion configuration technology. It is looking at other potential Orion sites in Illinois and Michigan.

Another wholly owned KMI subsidiary, Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America, will provide transportation services for the plant. Southern Co.'s marketing affiliate will market electric power generated at the plant.