# Branch unit closing marks symbolic milestone

Monday, Sept. 30, 2013 -- After 46 years in service, Plant Branch Unit 2 will retire from service after today to comply with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Multipollutant Rule.

The unit is coal-fired, and was the second of Branch’s four units to come online, in 1967. It has a generating capacity of 319 megawatts (MW).

“The decision to retire Branch 2 has everything to do with our focus to provide affordable electricity for our customers,” said John Pemberton, senior vice president and senior production officer.

“After an extensive analysis of the cost to comply with environmental regulations, it was determined the continued operation of the unit would be uneconomical for our customers,” he said.

Georgia Power requested the decertification of Branch units 1 and 2 in 2011. The request was approved last year, although it has since been decided that Unit 1 will remain online for now and be retired by April 16, 2015, the effective date of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule.

Georgia Power is in the midst of a transition in its generating fleet that will provide economic benefits to customers for generations. Plans to retire Branch Units 3 and 4 in 2015 were announced as part of this year’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) filing, and several other coal- and oil-fired units throughout the Georgia generation fleet will be retired as well.

All the retirements are due in large part to the new environmental regulations referenced above. The rules would have required the Branch units to be equipped and operated with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and flue gas desulfurization (FGD), or scrubber, technologies.

Employee reductions due to the closings at Branch and the other units impacted by the 2013 IRP are expected to be achieved through attrition and transfers to other company facilities. Integral to the comprehensive workforce transition process is a transparent and extensive communication plan that involves all employees and their union representatives, Pemberton said.

A Georgia Power Generation Transition website was recently launched on mySOurce to provide the most current news, information and jobSOurce resources for employees.

Staff numbers at Branch have gone from approximately 280 in 2011 to 195 today, said Plant Manager Kathy Russell. A handful have retired, but the majority of former employees have moved on to other company facilities.

Operations at the plant have proceeded as usual since the intended retirements were announced, and 2013’s peak season performance was strong, she said. All four units ran well and reliably.

“Employees are understandably disappointed by the upcoming closing of the workplace they care so much for,” Russell said. “But they fully understand the business decisionbehind it.”

Plant management is stressing communication to make sure everyone is involved and part of the process, she added. They are committed to running the business as long as they are still in business, she said, and remaining embedded in the community through volunteerism and environmental stewardship is a big part of that.

Branch is in Putnam County, near Milledgeville. It is located on the banks of Lake Sinclair, near the Putnam-Baldwin county line, and named for former Georgia Power President Harllee Branch Jr. It began operation in 1961, and, by 1969, all four units were in operation.