POWER December 2015 - 45

GENERATION TRANSITIONS
Leading in Times of Change
Lisa D. Johnson, 49 (Figure 1), took
over management of Seminole Electric
Cooperative on August 1, 2013, replacing
Timothy Woodbury, who had been
with Seminole since 1979 and had
been CEO for six years. Johnson came
to the job of CEO and general manager
from Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
(ODEC), a large generation and transmission
cooperative in Glen Allen, Va.,
where she was senior vice president and
chief operating officer.
When she joined ODEC in 2006, Johnson
had 11 years' experience with the
Southern Company and then its non-utility
generating spinoff, Mirant, culminating
as president of Mirant Mid-Atlantic, based
in Washington, D.C.
In 2012, Johnson was named one of
Virginia's most influential women. She's
also a director of the Electric Power Research
Institute and a 1988 graduate of
Duke University with a bachelor of science
degree in mechanical engineering and materials
science.
" I've always believed in a wide array
fully outfitted with advanced environmental
control and waste recycling systems. "
Over the years, Seminole added pollution
control systems to the coal-fired plant,
including upgraded flue-gas scrubbers to
control sulfur dioxide emissions and lowNOx
burners.
The co-op says it has invested
more than $530 million " in state-of-the-art
environmental control technology at SGS-
making it one of the cleanest coal plants in
the United States. " Coal for the plant comes
from western Kentucky and southern Illinois,
of experience, " she told POWER. " There
is a great benefit being on many sides
of this industry, in terms of experiential
knowledge, problem-solving, and decision-making. "
over
CSX rail lines. The plant has also turned
the scrubber sludge into gypsum wallboard,
a recycling plus.
POWER named SGS a Top Plant Award
winner in 2009, noting, " The staff of Seminole
Generating Station have completed
multiple, incremental plant improvements
over the past decade that have significantly
reduced air emissions and minimized solid
waste disposal. "
Seminole planned a third coal-fired unit
at the generating station but cancelled that
2. Coal, as required by federal policy. Coal fuels the 1,300-MW Seminole Generating
Station in Putnam County, Fla., providing more than half of the cooperative's power. The
plant was built when the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 banned all new oil- or
gas-fired generating facilities. Courtesy: Seminole Electric Cooperative
1. Lisa D. Johnson. Courtesy: Seminole
Electric Cooperative
3. Added gas. Gas fuels 800 MW of
Seminole Electric Cooperative's units: 500
MW of combined cycle power and 310 MW
of peaking capacity from five aeroderivative
combustion turbine units, all at the Midulla
Generating Station. Courtesy: Seminole Electric
Cooperative
unit in 2009. At the time, Tampa Bay Times
business columnist Robert Trigaux wrote,
" Seminole Electric said it dropped its coal
plans because regulatory changes afoot suggest
a growing backlash against coal as too
polluting, even with the latest smokestack
technology. Seminole Electric generates the
third-largest amount of electricity in Florida
behind Florida Power & Light and Progress
Energy Florida. "
Adding Gas
Seminole's other generating asset is the 810MW
Richard J. Midulla station, a gas-fired
facility in south-central Florida (Figure 3).
This plant consists of a 500-MW combined
cycle generator that came into service in 2002
(operating at a 50% to 70% capacity factor)
and 310 MW of combustion turbine peaking
capacity added in 2006 (five Pratt & Whitney
aero-derivative combustion turbines).
Challenges Posed by Closing Coal
Plant
Under the EPA's proposed plan for carbon
dioxide reductions at fossil plants under the
Clean Air Act, Johnson told Congress in April,
" Seminole's coal-fired power plant will be
forced to close " prematurely, resulting in job
losses for hundreds of plant workers and contractors
and a giant hit to the tax base of the
county where it is located. The layoffs would
extend beyond the plant to a local gypsum
wallboard plant that turns the plant's scrubber
sludge into building material.
Johnson's judgment hasn't changed fundamentally
with the final rule, she said, although
the EPA plan has added some flexibility lacking
in the first iteration. But the details remain
somewhat unclear, as is the state's approach to
compliance (or rejection).
In her April congressional testimony, Johnson
said, " EPA projects that Seminole would
lose at least 20 years of remaining life of its
coal-fired units, and operate its gas-fired facility
at a substantially reduced capacity; the
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