Lake Talquin Dam

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  Kirbert

  Built in the 1920's when hydroelectric dams were all the rage. You could never do this today; too many treehuggers would complain about flooding all that land. In the 1950's the generating station was retired; a 12 MW hydroelectric station isn't even worth the salaries of the couple of people needed to keep an eye on it. However, by the same token that you can no longer construct hydroelectric dams, you can't get rid of one either -- the same treehuggers would complain about destroying the ecosystem of the man-made lake. So despite not being interested in generating power any longer, Tallahassee Utilities nevertheless had to maintain the dam itself. Since they had to pay a couple of salaries to maintain the dam anyway, they almost might as well have kept the generators running. In the 1980's, amid movements to develop non-petroleum power sources, Tallahassee Utilities renovated the power station and put it back in working order. During the re-dedication ceremony, the plant was renamed after the man who spearheaded the idea, Clem Corn.

  18 years ago | reply | hide comment