Explosion Cuts Southern Energy's Capacity by 7.3%
A routine maintenance outage went awry at Southern Company's (NYS: SO) coal-fired Plant Bowen on Thursday. According to the utility, an explosion occurred at one of the plant's four units "the cause of which is still under investigation."
Southern reports that no employees were seriously injured and that the explosion does not present a threat to the local community.
The Cartersville, Ga., plant has a generating capacity of 3,160 MW and, according to a 2007 Southern report, was the second-largest generating plant in the Western Hemisphere at the time.
With a total generating capacity of approximately 43,000 MW, Plant Bowen's current outage represents a 7.3% drop in Southern's total capacity. All four of the plant's units are currently offline, but customers will continue to receive electricity via company contingency plans. A previous unplanned outage at Plant Bowen also caused the utility to miss on a key performance efficiency target for fiscal 2012.
The article Explosion Cuts Southern Energy's Capacity by 7.3% originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Justin Loiseau has no position in any stocks mentioned, but he does use electricity. You can follow him on Twitter @TMFJLo and on Motley Fool CAPS @TMFJLo.The Motley Fool recommends Southern Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
