Cottonwood

Operations

The Cottonwood facility is the first greenfield power project developed by InterGen in the United States. It is also among the cleanest, most reliable, and most efficient fossil-fuel plants in the country. The natural gas-fired, combined-cycle project dispatches electricity into the Entergy power grid in southeast Texas. Coral Energy, Shell's U.S. marketing and trading arm that is 30 percent owned by InterGen, supplies energy management services to the project.

Performance

In its first full year of operations in 2003, Cottonwood provided over 94% availability and achieved zero lost time incidents in more than 200,000 man-hours of operations.

Environmental

Cottonwood employees were deeply involved in a wetlands remediation initiative that restored local property near the plant to its natural state.

Also, Cottonwood’s administration building was developed and certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. The building uses recycled materials, natural light, and other design and construction techniques to minimize environmental impacts, ensure water and energy efficiency, and promote employee health and comfort.

Community

More than 77% of Cottonwood’s employees are local and are thoroughly involved with community programs. One such effort is the donation of manpower and materials to improve the local library and community center. The Cottonwood project also has helped fund many public safety initiatives.

Management

Thomas Neal, Cottonwood Plant Manager has been with InterGen for over three years and has over 17 years of energy experience. Prior to joining InterGen, Mr. Neal was Manager of Equipment Reliability at TransCanada Power.