Escalante Station employees honored for dedication and achievement

Tri-State executive vice president and general manager J.M. Shafer addressed employees and guests who were invited to enjoy a catered lunch and a 20-minute photo presentation that documented the station's 20 years of commercial operation. Although the plant's milestone was officially reached on January 1 of this year, the celebration coincided with an annual employee meeting held at the plant on August 17.

Shafer congratulated the work force of 120 people, nearly half of whom have been on the job since before the 1985 start-up, for their two-decade commitment to the plant and recognized Escalante as a keystone of the association's baseload generation portfolio. Citing changes that have occurred during the last 20 years, Shafer said one thing that hasn't changed at all is employee commitment to running the station as cleanly and efficiently as possible.

“The good news is that you have been able to steadily maintain an availability rate of above 90 percent when the national average for similar plants is 72 percent. The bad news is that we've come to expect that from you year after year,” Shafer recognized.

Don Russell, who has been an Escalante employee for over 20 years and plant manager since 2001 , praised his co-workers for their enthusiasm and dedication, adding, “I hope to be around for another 20 years!”

Commercially available in 1985, Escalante Generating Station, located three miles northwest of Prewitt, N.M., is a single unit, 250-megawatt, coal-fired plant that provides electricity to more than 250,000 end-use consumers of the 12 Tri-State member cooperatives operating in New Mexico.

Click here for more coverage on the plant's 20-year anniversary.