A triple play in baseball is rare and sure to be replayed on ESPN.
While they won’t make SportsCenter highlights, just as rare are the triple-qualified journeymen who work at the Washington County Cogeneration power plant 40 miles north of Mobile – the first in Alabama Power history to be qualified simultaneously as mechanics, electrical and instrumentation employees and plant operators.
That exclusive milestone is being recognized in 2019 as the plant celebrates its 20-year anniversary. (more…)
Stacy Walley had a problem.
The Employee Development coordinator at Alabama Power‘s Barry Steam Plant had to figure how to get a square peg in a round hole to provide homework supplies for a Mobile elementary school.
And she did it. (more…)
It would stand to reason Alabama Power would be first up to offer thanks and gratefulness during National Lineman Appreciation Day April 18.
But others outside the company are just as eager.
“The linemen who work in Alabama are some of our state’s most dedicated unsung heroes,” said Alabama Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh. “These men and women show an uncommon commitment to their neighbors and fellow Alabamians every time they rush in after a disaster to help restore people’s lives back to normal. They are our utility first responders, and I pray for them when they are called in for duty in difficult environments.” (more…)
Cars were racing fast and furious at the Barber Motorsports Park April 4 – even before the IndyCar drivers started practice.
It was the annual Education Event, where 150 students from five high schools partner with Alabama Power engineers to build and race miniature Pinewood Derby cars down a 20-foot slide.
Before the competition, they heard from Zach Veach, an IndyCar driver with Andretti Autosport, on the use of math and science in racing. (more…)
If the exercise, scenery and raising money for a good cause wasn’t enough, Charles Rossmann says there’s another draw to participating in the upcoming Dam Ride.
“Where else will you get the opportunity to spend the night sleeping in a dam?”
He and a team of Alabama Power and Southern Company bike riders and kayakers will embark April 12 on the fourth annual ride from the company’s headquarters in Birmingham to Lay Dam to raise money to beat multiple sclerosis. (more…)
Mobile fifth-grader Hannah Touchton has two Ruths in her life.
Her sister. And a frog.
The frog is the Ruth she is most likely known for, at least in the public eye. Ruth is her co-star in an Alabama Power television commercial showcasing the company’s commitment to environmental stewardship. (more…)
The Gee’s Bend Ferry will be back operating in the next few weeks. But it’s not your father’s ferry.
The boat has been retrofitted to become the first electric-powered passenger ferry in the United States.
It left Master Marine shipyard in Bayou La Batre on Feb. 12 and is scheduled to arrive Sunday, Feb. 17, in Camden, where it will undergo testing and resume service in about 10 days.
“Alabama Power is proud to have played a part in a project that makes the ferry more dependable and efficient,” said Alabama Power Camden Business Office Manager Floyd Harris.
Gee’s Bend, an enclave of some 300 residents, lies on the Alabama River across from the Wilcox County seat of Camden. Gee’s Bend residents have a 38-mile round-trip drive to Camden, having to cross the river on a bridge near Millers Ferry Lock and Dam. Camden is home to the courthouse, banks, restaurants and other amenities unavailable in Gee’s Bend. (more…)
It was good news and bad news for Wilsonville Elementary.
The good: The school was one of 107 in Alabama selected for the First Class Pre-K program in 2018-19.
The bad: The state grant for the program didn’t include $10,000 needed for the required playground equipment suitable for 4-year-olds.
The better: Gaston Steam Plant in Wilsonville donated $5,000, while its Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) chapter threw in $1,000 and was instrumental in getting Landscapes company to donate $2,000 in mulch.
The result: Combined with a donation from the town of Wilsonville, the playground equipment is up and teeming with children. (more…)
One of the state’s oldest dams now features an unusual site sure to draw spectators and photographers alike: an aboveground generating turbine.
The massive motor at Bankhead Lock and Dam on the Black Warrior River was lifted out in April and is on display on the road leading to the facility. And it’s not going anywhere.
“It was cheaper to put it off to the side and let it sit there than pay someone to haul it off,” said John Kirkland, Alabama Power’s Warrior River Hydro manager. “It’s pretty cool. I’ve seen a lot of people on bikes riding by taking pictures.”
(more…)
The Christmas rush is on. No, not the one at the shopping centers and malls, but the one at the Alabama Theatre for the Holiday Film Series.
Now is the time to rush if you want a seat at one of Birmingham’s most popular seasonal events, which last year drew 45,000 people.
The Holiday Film Series at the 90-year-old Alabama Theatre features 11 classic Christmas movies between Dec. 7-22. Also featured is the mighty Wurlitzer organ, played by house organist Gary Jones, who leads the audience in a sing-along of holiday songs and carols prior to the start of each movie.
(more…)
Alabama Power’s Transmission group is out in full force in the Florida panhandle, with 284 personnel helping Gulf Power restore electricity in the wake of Hurricane Michael.
It’s a humbling experience for Line Construction Manager Wray Anderson, whose 145-person team is putting the big wires up some 40 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.
(more…)
While blue skies and gentle, late-summer breezes are predicted for Alabama this week, Alabama Power line crews are mobilizing to help restore power from what is expected to be a devastating hurricane on the East Coast.
Some APC employees left this afternoon, with plans to stage safely near the coast as Hurricane Florence approaches.
Florence is a Category 4 storm predicted to hit somewhere between South Carolina and North Carolina Thursday, and linger on the coast until Sunday before moving inland. The result could be massive power outages and historic flooding. The severity of the storm may cause more than just downed lines and poles, as some critical infrastructure may have to be rebuilt.
(more…)
It don’t matter whether you’re on your way to the Gulf, or you’re a native Crenshaw Countian who loves a meat-and-three. The restaurant with the eye-catching name is sure to make you want to pull in.
The “It Don’t Matter” family restaurant in Highland Home, 27 miles south of Montgomery, has the best thing an eatery could have going for it besides good food: an unusual name and location, location, location. “It Don’t Matter” sits directly on U.S. Highway 331, the main drag from north Alabama to the Florida beaches at Destin, Fort Walton, Seaside and the western end of Panama City.