Electric

End of Coal

The James De Young Power Plant burned its last coal on Thursday, April 13, 2016. So what's next for the facility and its people?

The James De Young Power Plant had its last coal burn on Thursday, April 13, 2016 making way for the transition to the new natural gas plant, Holland Energy Park™. The 75-year-old James De Young Plant (JDY) will still be available to Holland Board of Public Works, but will no longer serve as the regular power source for Holland residents and businesses.

Terry Kroll worked at the James De Young Power Plant for 21 of those 75 years, working his way up to Lead Operator. Terry joined HBPW after serving our country for six years in the United States Navy. In his service, he worked with nuclear reactors aboard ships and took several training courses, giving him a breadth of knowledge and experience.

His service experience combined with his 21 years at HBPW help Terry each day. The Lead Operator decides when to purchase power from the energy grid and when to generate it through one of Holland’s three active locations the 48th St. Plant, the 6th St. Generation, or the James DeYoung Plant.

“There are a lot of moving parts in energy purchasing,” Terry said. “We have to visualize the whole system, and pay close attention to keep energy rates low.” Terry and the other 15 service operators monitor the resource prices closely and decide when to power up which generators keeping energy pumping to homes and businesses. The small team at the JDY is like a family according to Terry, and that family will be moving together to a new facility later this year.

JDY was the perfect location for coal burning with easy access for shipments of coal and steady availability of water for the cooling process. When the plant was built, there were 6,000 residences in Holland. Now there are over 28,000, which in-part sparked questions of supporting Holland’s energy future.

The community came together and decided to build a new energy plant to provide cleaner, cost-effective energy to all of Holland. The last coal burn at JDY marks the end of an era, and a step towards cleaner, more efficient energy production at Holland Energy Park™.