HOUSTON, Aug. 1, 2013 – POWER magazine today officially announced winners of its 2013 Plant of the Year Award, Marmaduke Award, and Smart Grid Award.

AEP’s John W. Turk, Jr. Power Plant Wins POWER’s Plant of the Year Award
American Electric Power’s (AEP) Southwestern Electric Power Co. overcame numerous legal and regulatory obstacles in building the first modern ultrasupercritical power plant in the U.S. This technology allows the plant to operate at higher temperatures, making it more efficient, and resulting in lower emissions than conventional subcritical coal-fired plants.

Contact Energy Ltd.’s Te Mihi Power Station Wins POWER’s Marmaduke Award
Despite numerous challenges during development (including an earthquake), this New Zealand geothermal plant is set to replace an existing 1958-built geothermal plant. By making the most of local resources and employing a unique brine treatment process that promises lower O&M costs, the plant’s owners are ensuring long life and a lighter environmental footprint for the region.

EPB Chattanooga Wins POWER’s Smart Grid Award
EPB has made impressive improvements in outage management thanks to its deployment of distribution automation and smart meters that use the company-owned fiber-optic cable. That fiber infrastructure also has enabled the utility to enter new business sectors that broaden and deepen its customer base, thereby giving it access to new revenue streams.

For more details about these projects, see the August issue of POWER at www.powermag.com .

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