Fossil Fuels

American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) recognizes the important role of fossil fuel generation as a component of a balanced generation portfolio. Coal, natural gas and diesel generation are used to help reliably meet the power demand in member communities at predictable costs.

Natural Gas

AMP Fremont Energy Center
AFEC_sm

The AMP Fremont Energy Center (AFEC) is a nominal 700-MW natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) facility in Fremont, Ohio. AFEC has a capacity of 512 MW (unfired) and includes duct-firing that allows an additional 163 MW of generation during peak demand periods. AFEC consists of two combustion turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and one steam turbine and condenser. The plant reached full commercial operation in January 2012.

AMP owns 90.69 percent of AFEC on behalf of 86 participating AMP members in seven states and 4.15 percent on behalf of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. The Michigan Public Power Agency owns the remaining 5.16 percent. The facility supplies power to 86 AMP member communities as well as DEMEC and CVEC.

In addition to AFEC, AMP uses natural gas units as distributed generation to help meet the peaking and standby resource needs of participating member communities. Six combustion turbine units are owned by AMP, located in Bowling Green, Galion and Napoleon, Ohio. Each site has one 15.5 MW unit and one 32 MW unit, providing approximately 142.5 MW of distributed generation capacity. The rest of the gas-turbine generating units, totaling 75 MW of capacity, are owned by the Ohio Municipal Electric Generation Agency (OMEGA) Joint Venture 2, with sites in Bowling Green and St. Marys, Ohio.

AMP generation technicians perform operations and maintenance of all units, which are simple-cycle natural gas-fired turbines.

For emission control, AMP uses two types of state-of-the-art technology: water injection technology and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), both of which reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

Coal

The Prairie State Energy Campus is a 1,600-MW supercritical pulverized coal power plant and adjacent mine in southern Illinois. AMP is the largest equity owner of the facility at 23.26 percent, which translates to 368 MW. Sixty-eight AMP member communities participate in the project.

The plant reached full commercial operation in 2012. For more information on this project, visit the Prairie State website or read the plant's most recent Year in Review.

Diesel

Smaller diesel units, owned by participating AMP member communities through the Ohio Municipal Electric Generation Agency (OMEGA) Joint Venture program, are used as distributed generation providing peaking power and mitigating the impact of higher power prices attributed to times of reported congestion. For more information on these projects, use the link below.

OMEGA Joint Ventures – JV2

Behind the Meter Peaking Generation

AMP has developed behind-the-meter (BTM) generation projects to help participating AMP member communities lower their overall transmission costs and provide back-up generation sources. Fourteen host sites are operational in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and six sites are currently being developed in Michigan.

Learn more about AMP’s Behind the Meter Peaking Generation