NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 16, 2023) – The team at the Barkley Dam Power Plant is generating hydroelectricity daily to provide green energy to the region but is also working to operate the plant safely while a hydropower unit is dismantled during a multi-year rehabilitation project that will encompass all four units.
The plant began operating in 1966, and each of its four power units can produce 32,500-kilowatt hours. In a typical year, Barkley Power Plant can produce enough electricity to power over 30,000 homes. The rehabilitation project will make the units more reliable and, by implementing advanced technology, increase their capacity by approximately 40% each. The rehabilitation began in August 2022, and will conclude sometime in 2028 or 2029.
Within the plant, mechanics and electricians maintain the systems and equipment daily, while the operators monitor and run the power units. Safety is a main consideration while the unit four rotor, turbine, and associated equipment are positioned throughout the plant as the contractor works to rehab and replace and upgrade aging equipment.
Senior Mechanic Kevin Reuter said the first thing he does every morning is hold a safety meeting. This is followed by a daily meeting with the contractors to understand what they are doing that day, and to resolve any space or equipment conflicts. Having the contractors on site rehabilitating the power units adds extra safety concerns, he explained.
“We have to be more aware of slips, trips and falls as we’re going through the plant doing our regular rounds of inspections,” Reuter said.
Reuter and the other maintenance staff perform plant inspections, checking oil levels and pumps every day to make sure they’re operating properly. With both USACE powerplant employees and contractors working in the same spaces, the key is coordination.
“One unit is undergoing rehab, the other three are working. Our goal is keeping the power generating while the fourth unit is being rehabilitated. The generator floor and the turbine floor are filled with equipment for the rehab, and we’ve just learned to work around it,” Reuter added.
Reuter hails from Hazel Green, Wisconsin, and served in the Kentucky National Guard, completing three tours of duty in Iraq where he drove trucks and provided convoy security. He received an associate degree in applied science and business administration from West Kentucky Community Technical College. While working towards his bachelor’s degree, he entered the USACE training program at Old Hickory Dam, graduating in 2017.
Working in power generation has taught him to not take it for granted. He said he personally owns generators and has used them in the wake of natural disasters in southwest Kentucky.
“People do not think about backup sources of power and heat for use in emergency situations. We need to push that awareness to the public, as power outages can occur from natural disasters.”
He explained the agility of the hydropower plant. “Barkley is a peaking plant, meaning it assists regionally by adding power at peak times when needed, such as evenings when people return home from work. Nuclear plants take far longer to get online than hydropower plants. We can get one of our units online within 10-15 minutes,” Reuter said.
Reuter also enjoys the diversity of tasks his position dictates.
“When I come through the door, every day is a different day. You’re not always working on the exact same thing day-to-day. I don’t like the same, mundane day-after-day-after-day tasks. I would not be a good assembly line worker,” he said.
Senior Operator Heath Dunigan works 12-hour shifts in the control room, monitoring the systems that display the amps, voltage and power outputs. Every day he receives a schedule that dictates the necessary power output for the following day.
Like Reuter, he echoed the safety concerns working simultaneously with contractors doing the rehabilitation. He also explained the challenges of the contractors’ tasks that conflict at times with those of the plant.
“If they need to pick up a rotor, which weighs tons, and move it to the erection bay, they have to pass over all the other units. We now need to prepare those units so that if the rotor was to fall it wouldn’t disrupt power. If our schedule dictates a certain number of units, and the contractors need units taken offline to work on, we need to make sure we can reconcile their needs with our power schedule,” Dunigan said.
In 2000, Dunigan learned about the USACE hydropower training program and the career opportunities. He travelled to Nashville to take the aptitude exam, expecting approximately 20 other test takers. Upon arrival he was shocked to find there were two sessions of 300 applicants each. USACE selected 14 applicants for consideration, and he would be accepted among them.
Dunigan explained that the rigor of the training program means a high level of competency in his co-workers.
“The staff at Barkley all want to be here, they’ve worked hard to be here, and they all know what their job is. People may not understand the dedication of the people working here. You don’t just get hired here. You get hired as a trainee, and then you go to the hydropower training program in Nashville, which is very detailed,” Dunigan said.
The rigorous program tests the trainees every few months, from written tests to days-long oral exams where they are grilled on the workings of electrical systems. Failure of two tests results in removal from the program. Trainees had to be able to draw from memory detailed blueprints of entire systems, essentially knowing them inside and out.
“It’s a very rigorous program and you don’t get lazy people through it,” Dunigan recalled.
Dunigan is from nearby Marshall County, Kentucky, and spent just shy of seven years in the Army, leaving in 1999. He went to West Kentucky Community Technical College, followed by the USACE hydropower training program.
Although now a civilian Army employee, his patriotism and sense of pride continues.
“When people find out what I do, it’ll make me feel good, the things that they say. People will say, ‘You’re the one out there producing that power!’” Dunigan said.
Jamie Holt is the plant’s superintendent and Power Maintenance supervisor and oversees the daily operations of the hydropower plant. For the past 13 years he has been fulfilling the daily needs of 19 mechanics, electricians and operators to successfully maintain the plant.
Safety & Communication during the rehabilitation is also a main priority for Holt in managing the plant’s operations. He said employees have kept the original equipment operating and in good shape for more than 50 years, well past its expected operating lifespan.
The ongoing Hydropower Modernization Program authorized under the Section 212 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 is making it possible to bring the generators up to date and to operate them more efficiently.
Holt has been with USACE since 1999, and prior to that he worked as a John Deere equipment mechanic and an employee at Advance Auto Parts. He claims to have learned most of his technical skills while troubleshooting problems on his first two jobs.
Although educated as a drafter and obtained an Associate of Science in General Occupational/ Technical Studies degree at West Kentucky Community Technical College (WKCTC), USACE taught him to be an electrician and eventually a supervisor. He continues to work on his own vehicles, does his own electrical work at home, and feels working at the powerplant is just a larger scale version of that. However, as a supervisor his hands-on troubleshooting must remain at home, while the maintenance staff at the plant perform the physical work.
Holt is from Mayfield, Kentucky, 35 miles southwest of the plant. USACE sent a contingent to the town in response to the December 2021 tornado that ripped through the area. They partnered with local, state and federal agencies to remove debris, tear down destroyed buildings and cut dangerously leaning trees. Holt took his son to see his agency at work.
“I never really knew about the Corps till I applied for it, and then I’d be danged if they weren’t the agency that came back to my town to assist with disaster relief,” Holt said.
He also gives back to his alma mater, acting as an adviser on the WKCTC Electrical Technology Advisory Committee. Twice a year he helps update the curriculum to better prepare students for a career in electricity & industrial maintenance related fields.
Lately, Holt likes telling the hydropower story to stakeholders and the public, so they understand the importance of funding maintenance and rehabilitation. He said he feels there is increased interest, which is a good thing, and adds storyteller to his diverse set of daily tasks.
“There’s not a lot of routine here anymore,” Holt said.
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