Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) is expanding its Thomas B. Fitzhugh Generating Station near Ozark.
The $93 million capital investment project includes adding two natural gas generating units at the Fitzhugh station, which will increase capability by 100 megawatts (MW) — bringing the total generation capacity to 270 MW. The two additional units will also have the ability to operate on fuel oil.
“The expansion at Fitzhugh is crucial to continue providing reliable, affordable dispatchable power to our 17 member cooperatives and, ultimately, the 1.2 million electric cooperative members served by the local electric cooperatives,” said Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, president/CEO of AECC and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. “AECC strives to be positioned to have wholesale generation resources that are not weather-dependent. The investment at Fitzhugh is intended to ensure readily dispatchable energy to meet the growing demand for electricity.”
Construction began in late September, and its completion date is slated for the fourth quarter of 2025. Fitzhugh was AECC’s first generating plant. It came online in 1963 and was repowered in 2003.