MAXWELL – PG&E’s Colusa Generating Station has exceeded 1,000 days without a recordable injury or motor vehicle accident. Plant employees were recognized for this significant safety milestone – now approaching almost three full years – during a celebration on Nov. 14 at the site.
The commitment to safety at Colusa begins with planning:
- every task begins with a job-safety analysis known as a JSA, which includes a detailed checklist of every potential hazard;
- employees meet for a daily safety meeting to discuss upcoming tasks and hazards associated with their jobs;
- and a weekly safety meeting focuses on any avoided accidents.
“At Colusa, there is no priority greater than protecting the safety of the public, PG&E employees and contractors,” said John Conway, PG&E senior vice president of energy supply. “The plant employees at the Colusa Generating Station deserve a special recognition for working 1,000 days safely.”
There have been no recordable injuries or motor-vehicle accidents at PG&E's Colusa Generating Station in nearly three years.
The strong safety culture at PG&E, the number one priority for the utility’s 20,000 employees, plays a key role in Colusa’s safety. Employees are expected to report any safety issues and are expected to take the time needed to do their jobs safely and correctly the first time every time.
The Colusa Generating Station, a 660-megawatt natural gas-fired facility, provides safe, reliable, affordable and efficient electricity to meet the needs of more than half a million PG&E customers. It is also one of the cleanest natural-gas-fueled power plants in California, utilizing several environmentally friendly technologies, including “dry cooling,” which uses 97 percent less water than a conventional water cooling system.
Compared to older natural gas-fired plants, Colusa yields 35 percent less carbon dioxide for every megawatt-hour of power it produces due to its higher efficiency and low emissions technologies. Colusa has also achieved notable environmental milestones, including the “green building” LEED rating it received for the facility’s administrative building.
In addition to being a clean, reliable, and cost-effective source of power, Colusa is a highly flexible generation facility, which enables it to meet PG&E customers’ electricity needs when more intermittent renewable resources like wind and solar are not able to meet energy demands. This ability to quickly adjust its power output will be even more critical as the company seeks to increase its renewable energy portfolio in the upcoming years.