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October 25, 2001
Southside Generating Station Decommissioning
Jacksonville – On Friday, JEA will hold a ceremony to decommission the Southside Generating Station after 51 years of providing electricity to Jacksonville residents and businesses. The closing of the Southside Generating Station marks the passing of an era in Jacksonville. The leading technologies of the late 1940's that led city leaders to locate a major power plant in the heart of the city on the St. Johns River have been replaced with newer, much cleaner and more efficient technologies. JEA completed construction of one of the cleanest power plants in the nation on Oct. 12 when the Brandy Branch Generating Station located on the city's westside near Baldwin became fully operational seven weeks ahead of schedule. The new 500-megawatt power plant more than replaces the 200-megawatt capacity of the Southside plant and provides additional power for a growing Jacksonville.
The City of Jacksonville began providing electricity in 1895, but this is the first time a power plant will be closed and removed so the site can be put to better use for our community. It is rare for any utility to give up a permitted power plant site, because of the time, effort and expense associated with finding and permitting a new site. "This illustrates an important advantage of having a community-owned and operated electric utility. We can do creative and innovative things that are consistent with our corporate purpose of improving the quality of life in the communities we serve," explained Walt Bussells, JEA CEO.
A community task force studied for more than a year and made recommendations to the JEA Board for the site to be redeveloped into a mixed-use development, following the guidelines in the Downtown Master Plan. The task force recommended, in part, to include public open space, view corridors to the river, an extension of the riverwalk and a signature public park. The group recommended the development should also include unique design elements that people outside Jacksonville would recognize and identify as our community. The development will also complement the existing neighborhoods in the area.
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