T. B. Simon Power Plant

T.B. Simon Power Plant
T. B. Simon Power Plant, south view (2011)
Country	United States
Location	Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Coordinates	42°43′03″N 84°29′04″W / 42.71759°N 84.48439°W / 42.71759; -84.48439Coordinates: 42°43′03″N 84°29′04″W / 42.71759°N 84.48439°W / 42.71759; -84.48439
Status	Operational
Owner(s)	Michigan State University
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Natural gas
Tertiary fuel	Biofuel
Cogeneration?	Yes
Power generation
Units operational	6
Nameplate capacity	99.3 MW

T.B. Simon Power Plant is a multi-fuel cogeneration facility located on the East Lansing campus of Michigan State University. With a peak electrical output of 99.3 megawatts and a pressurized steam generation capacity of 1.3 million pounds per hour, it is one of the 500 largest power plants and the largest on-campus coal-burning plant in the United States. The Simon Power Plant is the principal energy provider to the 45,000-student main campus, meeting approximately 97% of all energy demand. Pressurized steam is distributed throughout the campus through an extensive network of tunnels to provide both heating and cooling to approximately 500 instructional, research, and residential buildings located on more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha). Electrical power is distributed through the same tunnels, making the campus relatively immune from outages due to weather. The primary fuel for T. B. Simon is coal with natural gas as an alternative, although with the 1993 addition of Unit No. 4 the plant acquired the capability of burning biofuel. Simon's east smokestack identifies its operator with the letters M S U in white brick.

The Simon facility is the fifth power plant to be located on the Michigan State campus. Its six generating units were built in four stages:

The $23 million 2006 addition was a Best In Class combined cycle plant consisting of a conventional pulverized-coal steam turbine/generator (Unit 5) and a natural gas combustion turbine with heat-recovery steam turbine (Unit 6). Unit 6 gives the Simon plant Black start capability in the event of a general power outage.

Each successive cogeneration unit has been of higher electrical generating capacity than its predecessors. Unless otherwise noted, nameplate, summer, and winter capacities are the same:

Total nameplate capacity is 99.3 MWh.

In a typical year, prior to 2016, MSU's Simon plant burns approximately 250,000 tons of low-sulfur Eastern coal, principally from Kentucky. The Simon plant is the largest consumer of coal among Big Ten universities.

Coal is delivered by CSX over the adjacent Plymouth Subdivision, and the site has two storage sidings (added in 2010) in addition to four leads through the plant grounds. Cuts of up to five cars are positioned under a Carhoe II unloader by a GE 45-ton switcher painted in school colors. In 2011, the plant leased an EMD SW1 locomotive for handling longer cuts.