James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant, also known as Miller Steam Plant or Plant Miller, is a coal-fired electrical generation facility sitting on approximately in
West Jefferson,
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
.
It is owned by
Alabama Power
Alabama Power Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.4 million customers in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It also operates appliance stores. It is one ...
, a subsidiary of
Southern Company
Southern Company is an American gas and electric utility holding company based in the Southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with executive offices located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of 2021 it is the second largest ut ...
.
The plant has four units, the first of which opened in 1978.
Additional units commenced operation in 1985, 1989, and 1991, respectively. Each unit has a capacity of 705.5
MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...
(660 MWe net). The plant contains two natural draft
cooling tower
A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...
s. It is situated on a main tributary to the
Black Warrior River
The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the ...
, and its ash lagoon discharges contaminants to the river.
The James H. Miller Jr. Plant was cited by
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...
and the
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations:
* Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana)
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)
* Environmenta ...
in 2017 as the largest emitter of
greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
es in the United States.
In 2023, it emitted almost 16.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, having topped the list of America's polluters for the ninth year in a row, since it surpassed the emissions from
Plant Scherer
The Robert W. Scherer Power Plant (also known as Plant Scherer) is a coal-fired power plant in Juliette, Georgia, just north of Macon, Georgia, in the United States. The plant has four generating units, each capable of producing 935 megawat ...
in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
in 2015. The next largest emitter after Miller is Labadie Power Plant in Missouri. The Southern Company has a net zero target but has not enforced that on its subsidiaries, and as of 2024, Plant Miller has no scheduled closure date.
Advocates from Energy Alabama argued that the continued operation of Plant Miller is harming Alabama through emissions of
nitrogen oxides
In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution.
These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tr ...
,
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
, and
mercury, and that owners are ignoring better alternatives.
See also
*
Birmingham District
The Birmingham District is a geological area in the vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama, where the raw materials for making steel - limestone, iron ore, and coal - are found together in abundance. The district includes Red Mountain, Jones Valley, and ...
*
List of largest power stations in the United States
This article lists the largest List of power stations in the United States, electricity generating stations in the United States in terms of installed Nameplate capacity, electrical capacity. Non-renewable resource, Non-renewable power stations ar ...
References
External links
*
*
Alabama Power
Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Alabama
Coal-fired power stations in Alabama
Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama
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