HAWESVILLE, KY. — More than 150 people attended the Aug. 5 American Municipal Power Inc. (AMP) groundbreaking ceremony for the Cannelton Hydroelectric Plant near Hawesville, Ky.

The 84-megawatt (MW) run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant is the first of five such plants under development at existing dams on the Ohio River. Those in attendance included AMP President/CEO Marc Gerken, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2), Colonel Keith Landry U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Louisville District, as well as many local, state and federal officials.

Gov. Beshear offered his thoughts at the groundbreaking by saying: “We’re here today, within sight of one of the most beautiful and hardest-working rivers in the country, to celebrate three things: an innovative company; a powerful, relentless force of nature, that force being the rushing of water as gravity pulls it from higher ground to lower ground; and optimism for the future of this state and nation.

Specifically, we’re here to acknowledge how American Municipal Power is tapping the incredible Ohio River to produce green, renewable and sustainable energy, giving us hope that economic success and national security will be ours for some time to come.

With this new run-of-the-river hydroelectric project at Cannelton Locks and Dam — and pending projects at the Captain Anthony Meldahl Dam in Bracken County and at the Smithland Locks and Dam in Livingston County —AMP is showing itself as a leader in the energy production of the future. This is green and clean energy, with no emissions, and —because the dam is already here — little additional impact on the environment. And it’s energy that will provide some stability to the power grid in Kentucky, not to mention help us begin to reduce our dependency on foreign sources.”

Gerken added: “This ambitious project is the largest deployment of new run-of-the-river hydro in the country. It will bring more than 350 megawatts of new, renewable generation into the region and will help make the Ohio River Valley a showcase for alternative energy sources. This project is very important to our members, but the benefits of this project do not end with the participating member communities. This project and the four others under development are bringing jobs and economic development to the region. It takes time and patience to develop these projects, but most importantly it requires a sophisticated Board and membership and we are fortunate to have both.”

The $416 million project will employ 200-400 construction workers and nine-12 permanent operators once on-line. Seventy-nine AMP member communities in five states are participating in the project.

The Cannelton Hydroelectric Project is scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2013. The other hydro projects the organization is developing are located at the Smithland, Meldahl, RC Byrd and Willow Island dams.