PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, headquartered in Andalusia, Ala., is a generation and transmission cooperative that provides the wholesale power needs of 20 distribution members — 16 electric cooperatives and four municipal electric systems — in Alabama and northwest Florida.
For 68 years, PowerSouth has remained a trusted energy provider for our distribution members, who provide electric energy to more than 1 million consumers in 39 Alabama and 10 Florida counties.
With a combined generating capacity of more than 1,600 megawatts, PowerSouth’s generation facilities are the James A. Vann, Jr. Combined Cycle Power Plant in Gantt, Ala.; the Charles R. Lowman Power Plant in Leroy, Ala.; the Maury A. McWilliams Combined Cycle Power Plant in Gantt, Ala.; the McIntosh Power Plant in McIntosh, Ala.; the Gantt and Point A hydroelectric plants in Gantt, Ala., on the Conecuh River; and an ownership interest in the James H. Miller, Jr. Electric Generating Plant in Birmingham, Ala.
A diverse generating mix that includes natural gas, coal, water (hydro), and a disciplined fuel supply hedging program minimizes the impact of significant increases in the cost of any single fuel source. PowerSouth also utilizes long-term purchased power agreements on other utilities to ensure an economic and reliable power supply for our members.
PowerSouth is owned by 20 distribution members, who govern and set policy through a 40-member board of trustees composed of two voting delegates from each distribution system.
Who is POWERSOUTH?
On June 20, 1941, representatives from 11 cooperatives in Alabama met in Montgomery, Ala., to start an organization that would build its own generating plants and sell electric energy to their cooperatives. Four days later on June 24, 1941, Alabama Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AEC) was formed. The organization’s name was changed to PowerSouth in January 2008.
Today, PowerSouth is one of 62 G&T cooperatives in the United States, providing electricity at wholesale rates to its 20 distribution members. These members consist of 12 Alabama distribution cooperatives, four Florida distribution cooperatives and four Alabama municipalities.
