The Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • 46

lane highway from Harrisburg to York Pa. and the 14,000 tons of steel in Keystone in one fourth as much as used in the construction of the Empire State Building. The smokestacks are 67 feet across at the base and 34 feet at the top. The chimney walls are three feet thick and the wind sway at the top is 12 inches. The cooling towers are capable of cooling 560,000 gallons of water from 118 degrees to 90 degrees every minute.

From 9,000 to 13,000 gallons of water evaporate every minute. Generators spin, at high pressure, at the rate of 3,600 times per minute. Furnace walls in the boilers are 43 feet deep, 90 feet wide, and 163 feet long. The 500 KV transformers are the largest ever built and are designed to boost the power from 20,000 to 500,000 A dam four miles north of Keystone on the North Branch of Plum Creek holds the water used for cooling purposes by the Keystone generating station. It is open for public use under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission.

Keystone is operated by the Pennsylvania Electric Company for seven major electric companies located in mid-Atlantic coast states. Power is transmitted to the owner companies over special long lines that were erected just-for Keystone. Before Keystone was conceived, coal from Indiana County was shipped by rail to generating stations in the east. Now the electrical production is here and the electricity sent by wire instead. In the central portion of Indiana County, off Route 119 south of Homer Stations, Pennsylvania Electric Company is also expanding its older facility at Seward, near the Conemaugh Station.

And yet another power source is located in Indiana County with the pilot coal gasification plant along Route 422 near Homer City. A federally funded project, the highly sophisticated plant is determining how coal may be converted into pipeline quality gas. In addition, natural gas wells abound throughout Indiana County as efforts are made to uncover new sources of this energy producer. Highly mobile gas drilling rigs spring up over night in almost any locale and the drilling process continues until the well "comes in" or the driller gets nothing but a dry hole. New drilling techniques are also used to re-work old wells in order to get greater production.

It is rare that so many sa many varieties of energy sources are so well developed in such a small area as Indiana County. The visitor here has to be impressed with the scope of the energy business in Indiana County and with the promise these natural resources have for the future. To assist with environmental concerns, the electric generating stations maintain electrostatic precipitators which filter the gases before they enter the stacks and remove 99.5 per cent of the solid waste matters. Coal cleaning plants are also being put into service to further reduce the possibilities of pollution. More information concerning the energy production activities in Indiana County may be obtained from the Indiana County Tourist Bureau, Indiana, 15701.

Work continues on the Homer City Coal Cleaning Plant near the site of the Homer City Generating Station shown in the background. The two 800 stacks, one is obscured by the other, are joined by the 1,200 foot chimney. Another view of the Homer City Station appears on the cover. Conemougi Eecfnc Generating Station faoasfs fwm roof chimneys onrf fwo water cooling lowers. Steam from the towers is merey fhe heaf escaping as the water from the boilers is tumbled through the inside of the lower portions of these unique towers.

The impressive statistics for this unique facility are about the same as for Keystone and Homer City. Begun in 1966, Conemaugh began to operate four years later. Again the Pennsylvania Electric Company manages the facility for eight east coast power companies. Chimneys at Conemaugh are 1,000 feet tall and the water cooling towers have a special 46 foot high lattice shield around the bottom. These industrial giants were the first of their kind and while providing electric for a power-starved nation, they also provide an awesome attraction for the visitor to Indiana County and the Chestnut Ridge Energy Complex.

To augment the three new power quarters in Indiana, is the principal supplier of coal to Keystone. The coal company opened new mines in the vicinity of the plant to help provide the volume of coal necessary to feed the two boilers. Concrete used in the construction of. Keystone is sufficient to build a four Capacity of Keystone is 1,640,000 kilowatts, sufficient to light 16,400,000 lamps or turn 8,200,000 motors. Keystone burns 610 tons of coal per hour and during the 30 year life expectancy of the plant will consume 118.500,000 tons.

The Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company, with head Gas drilling rigs are a common sight in Indiana County as the demand for more energy encourages the exploration to new wells and the improvement of others. This truck portable rig is easily moved to a new location. A. 4 City, is the Homer City Generating Station. Again it is a unique mine-mouth facility, drawing most of its fuel from newly opened mines in the immediate vicinity.

Homer City is a cooperative project of the Pennsylvania Electric Company and the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation. It is easy to identify because its 600 foot tall twin stacks are now joined by a 1,200 foot chimney to be used for a third unit currently being installed. Construction started in 1965 and was completed four years later. Twin 20,000 volt volt generators rotate at 3,600 revolutions per minute to produce 1,280,000 kilowatts of power, sufficient to light 12,800,000 100 watt lamps. Homer City Generating Station now burns 463 tons of coat an hour and is expected to consume 100,000,000 tons of coal during its 30 year projected life.

Cooling towers at Homer City are slightly higher than those at Keystone and only one is used for each unit here instead of two per boiler at Keystone. Water storage for Homer City is on Two Lick Creek about eight miles northeast of the generating station. High speed boating and water skiing is allowed when the water is maintained at a sufficient depth. Five transmission lines carry the power throughout the Penelec system and interconnects with the upstate New York system in the Elmira-Binghanton, N. area.

Yet third monster generating station is located in the area, this being the Conemaugh Electric Generating Station at Huff on the Conemaugh River in the southeastern portion of Indiana County. From a point on Chestnut Ridge on Route 22 east of Blairsville it is possible to see the smoke stacks of three of the world's largest mine-mouth electric generating stations. At a time when energy it of major concern to everyone, Indiana County can point to the generation of more electricity than some entire foreign countries. First of these mam mouth generating stations was Keystone located near Shelocta. An overlook is maintained by the Indiana County Tourist Bureau off Route 156 two miles south of Shelocta where visitors may have an impressive view of this coal fired generating facility.

Also at the overlook is a shelter where light refreshments may be obtained and in which there are visuals which explain the operation of the plant located on the flat below the vista. Ground far Keystone Generating Station was broken in 1964 and it took three and a half years to complete the construction. Twin 800 foot tall chimneys propel the smoke from the coal fired boilers into the upper atmosphere and 30 story water cooling towers provide rapid cooling of the limited water available for the steam generators. Fuel for the two generating units comes from the ground right around the plant itself, plus coal from other areas of the county which is hauled in by truck. -l'J Behind the Overlook pavilion are Ihe twin smokestack! and four cooling towers (hat identify the Key' stone Electric Generating Station near Shelocta.

This was the first of the mine-mouth generating stations in this area and pioneers for ihe industry. Visitors to the Overlook, off Route 156 south of Shelocta, will have the operation of the plant explained with visuals in the building and they will also be able to obtain light refreshments. Purpose of this plant is to learn how to convert coal into pipeline quality gas. A federally-funded project, it holds promise for the continued use of coal from the Indiana County area to meet the nation's energy needs. The plant is located along Route 1 19 near Homer City..