Jeffrey Energy Center

Jeffrey Energy Center (Jeffrey EC) is a sub-bituminous coal-fired power plant located seven miles (11 km) northwest of St. Marys, Kansas, at . Jeffrey EC is jointly owned by Westar Energy, Topeka, Kansas and Aquila Corp., Kansas City, Missouri. Jeffrey EC is composed of three separate 720-MW units providing a name-plate energy center capacity of 2.16 gigawatts. Unit 1 began operation in 1978, unit 2 in 1980 and unit 3 in 1983.

Jeffrey EC is a typical modern coal-fired energy center. Its primary mission is to convert the chemical energy available from its Wyoming Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal supply into electric energy.

History

Jeffrey EC came into operation during the late 1970s in the wake of an energy crisis created by a quadrupling of world oil prices. Its inauguration in July, 1978 was heralded with a visit by Vice President Walter Mondale praising its use of domestic coal reserves at a time when many power stations were still using imported oil. The opening ceremonies included a performance by the US Army Golden Knights parachute team, and the arrival of a special train carrying company officials and state dignitaries from Topeka, Kansas.

The center was originally designed for four generating units, but was scaled back when the anticipated growth in demand for electricity did not materialize.

The steam turbines and generator were imported from Germany. The unit 2 intermediate pressure turbine had to be replaced by the unit 3 turbine...
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