Tanners Creek Plant Shuts Down Last Generating Unit; A Look At Its Past And Future

By Mike Perleberg The Tanners Creek Power Plant in Lawrenceburg shut down its last operating generator on Tuesday. Photo courtesy American Electric Power. (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – For perhaps the last time in 64 years, the generators have been shut down at the Tanners Creek Power Plant in Lawrenceburg. The last of four generating units at the plant was shut down on Tuesday, says Indiana Michigan Power spokesman Tracy Warner. The unit could still be fired up through the end of the month if needed. I&M parent company American Electric Power announced in 2011 that it would stop three of the four generating units at Tanners Creek in an effort to meet federal Environmental Protection Agency emissions regulations on coal-fired power plants. By 2013, the company decided and announced that the plant would be closed completely by mid-2015. Eighty-five employees at the Tanners Creek Plant will remain on the job until the first week in June. About a dozen of them have found other jobs with Indiana Michigan Power. Many have decided to retire, says Warner. However, a handful of those workers will stay on helping in the process of decommissioning the plant. They will work over the next few years making sure the closed plant is safe and removing various items. “The employees there have taken great pride in the work that they’ve done there providing electricity and also protecting air and water quality. I&M will continue to be a good steward of the land there as far as decommissioning in a responsible manner that follows all state and federal rules regarding the environment,” says Warner. Warner says no decision has been made on the future of the power plant property, though Warner said there have been discussions with Lawrenceburg city officials. The Southeastern Indiana Regional Port Authority – which is a partnership among Lawrenceburg, Aurora, and Dearborn County – has eyed the plant’s Ohio River port and rail infrastructure as an economic development opportunity. But when might the plant be demolished, if ever? “That’s down the road,” is all the spokesperson would say. The City of Lawrenceburg has a certain interest in the property's future. AEP paid $1.9 million in local property taxes last year. At that amount, any decreasing valuation of the property - probable with the plant closure - would have a significant effect on the city's tax revenue.   Employees Powered The Plant One of the generators inside the Tanners Creek Power Plant. Photo courtesy American Electric Power. Ronald Thomas has more seniority than any current employee at the plant. He started work there in November of 1972. “It hasn’t been hard to come to work every day when you like the people you work with and the people you work for,” Thomas told an AEP retirees and alumni publication. Like Thomas, many of the Tanners Creek Plant’s employees spent their entire careers there. Larry Heffelmire has worked there for 42 years. “When Tanners Creek said it would be done, it would be done,” Heffelmire said. Examples are plentiful. There was the time the plant’s coal yards and surrounding area was flooded by the Ohio River in 1964. Employees took boats to get to work. Not much changed in that regard over the years. In the brutal “polar vortex” winter of 2014, power plants across the country were struggling to churn out enough energy to meet consumers’ demands in keeping their homes and businesses warm. Despite knowing at that point that the plant was to be closed in the coming months, the employees were assisted by Tanners Creek retirees who came to lend a hand. “Whenever there is a need, you can count on the employees to be here and to do everything they can to do it right. They’ve always been dedicated,” said current plant manager Doug Rosenberger. The plant's annual payroll in 2014 was $7.7 million, according to AEP.   Generating Good In The Community Construction on the Tanners Creek plant in the early 1950s. Photo courtesy American Electric Power. The Tanners Creek plant has provided Dearborn County with jobs and service - as well as electricity, of course – since it opened in 1951 with much fanfare. The People Helping People non-profit group organized by employees was founded with a single $400 donation years ago. It has since distributed $40,000 and 70,000 cans of food to local causes, food pantries, and needy families. Warner said the People Helping People will continue thanks to employees at the AEP Lawrenceburg Gas Plant, located nearby. While it may be considered dirty by today’s EPA standards, Tanners Creek was recognized in 1951, 1952, and 1956 as the world’s most efficient steam plant. In 2002, the plant was bestowed the AEP Horizon Award for safety. Another honor, the Governor’s Workplace Safety Award, was given in 2012. In the 2015 Indiana Legislative Session, state lawmakers adopted a resolution recognizing the Tanners Creek Power Plant’s years of service: “Indiana Michigan Power’s Tanners Creek Plant will cease producing electricity in May 2015, but its legacy as a home to many families, community steward, and a reliable electric provider to the people of Indiana will never be forgotten.” RELATED STORIES: Tanners Creek Power Plant Will Shut Down, Layoff Employees By May 31 Lawrenceburg Council Approves $665K Grant For Port Authority Tanners Creek Plant Will Close In 2015 Obama’s EPA Push Likely To Affect Ind. Energy Tanners Creek Faces Closure In New AEP Deal AEP Shutting 3 of 4 Units At Tanners Creek