Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Mississippi’s first and only nuclear power plant, turns 40 this year.
In 1980, South Mississippi Electric Power Association — known today as Cooperative Energy — acquired a 10% undivided ownership stake in the Port Gibson-area power plant. The remaining 90% is owned and operated by Entergy subsidiary, System Energy Resources, Inc.
Under the partnership, Cooperative Energy funded 10% of the plant’s construction costs and covered the same amount of its operating and manufacturing expenses and future decommissioning costs. In exchange,Cooperative Energy garners 10% of the electric power generated by the plant.
“For four decades, Grand Gulf has grown into a regional powerhouse, providing safe, clean, carbon-free, affordable energy while serving as one of the largest non-carbon emitting power plants in the world,” said Mark Smith, senior vice president of power generation at Cooperative Energy.
“In other words, the qualities that made Grand Gulf a sound investment in the 1970s are the same ones that continue providing benefits for Mississippi communities and the environment today.”
About 40,000 tons of reinforced steel and 460,000 cubic yards of concrete were used to build Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. Crews broke ground on the plant in 1974.
Cooperative Energy, based in Hattiesburg, is a generation and transmission electric cooperative that provides power to 11 distribution electric cooperatives around the state — Coahoma Electric, Delta Electric, Twin County Electric, Yazoo Valley Electric, Southern Pine Electric, Dixie Electric, Southwest Electric, Magnolia Electric, Pearl River Vally Electric, Coast Electric, and Singing River Electric.
