Cardinal - your source of power

Ohio's electric cooperatives are fortunate to have their own coal-fired generating plant on the Ohio River, seven miles south of Steubenville. Through their G&T, Buckeye Power, cooperative members own Units 2 and 3 of the Cardinal plant. The two units came on line in 1968 and 1977, respectively, and together have 1,230 megawatts of low cost capacity. Buckeye Power's Cardinal units supply electricity to more than 321,000 meters for nearly a million rural consumers who are served by cooperatives in 77 of Ohio's 88 counties. Most importantly, Buckeye Power's rates are very competitive when compared with many other utilities in our region.

Buckeye Power contracts with American Electric Power, owner of Unit 1, to operate Units 2 and 3. This joint ownership and operation of the plant is a unique arrangement between a cooperative enterprise and an investor-owned utility.

The plant is in compliance with all current environmental regulations. It has already made the changes necessary to be in compliance with Phase II of the amendments to the Clean Air Act, which took effect in the year 2000. In the near future, Buckeye Power will be giving consideration to additional sources of power. New generation may include combustion turbines. The options range from building combustion turbines to buying power form other utilities, power generators, power marketers, or other entities that may emerge in a new deregulated industry.

Buckeye Power is involved in research through the Electric Power Research Institute or EPRI. On-site field tests for new EPRI products are often coordinated by Buckeye Power. Presently, Buckeye Power is working with distribution cooperatives to test the Non-Intrusive Appliance Load Monitoring System (NIALMA) for EPRI at 15 residential locations in Ohio.