Gavin Power Plant


General James M. Gavin Power Plant is a 2.6-gigawatt supercritical coal-fired power station in the village of Cheshire, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Lightstone Generation LLC, a 50–50 joint venture of The Blackstone Group L.P. and ArcLight Capital Partners. Gavin is the largest coal-fired power facility in Ohio, and one of the largest in the nation, capable of powering two million homes. In February 2017, the plant represented slightly more than 11% of the total electric generation capacity in Ohio according to the Energy Information Administration. The plant was named in honor of James Maurice "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin, the third Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II.

History

Gavin's two units, rated at 1,300 MW each, were placed into service in 1974 and 1975. The power plant is connected to the electric transmission grid by 765-kilovolt transmission lines. The plant contributes approximately $6 million a year in property taxes that support the Gallia County school system and government. The plant is Gallia County's largest taxpayer and makes annual contributions of more than $50,000 to local charities and non-profits.
In 2002, to avoid lawsuits relating to air pollution in the village of Cheshire, the American Electric Power corporation decided to buy out the town, by paying every homeowner 3.5 times the market value of their home to move. The total deal came to around $20 million.
AEP sold Gavin along with three other plants to Blackstone and ArcLight as a part of a $2.17 billion deal in 2016.

Environmental mitigation

Gavin is equipped with a suite of air quality controls. These include selective catalytic reduction units that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 82%; flue-gas desulfurization units that remove 94% of sulfur dioxide emissions and electrostatic precipitators for particulate control. Together the controls reduce mercury emissions by up to 91% and particulates by 99%.

See Also