ATLANTA – Two Southern Company environmental engineers have been honored with the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Environment Sector Delivery and Application Research Champion Award.
John Jansen and Larry Monroe were selected for applying EPRI technology for the benefit of Southern Company and its customers.
Jansen was recognized as a Research Champion for his leadership in directing one of the nation’s premier air quality monitoring and characterization programs, the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization Study (SEARCH). John also helped design and operate another large monitoring and health impacts study referred to as the Aerosol Research & Inhalation Epidemiological Study (ARIES). These two programs are critical to understanding the sources of emissions and work to investigate the health effects of particulate matter as well as other airborne pollutants. EPRI also recognized Jansen for his guidance in a study to examine mercury chemistry in power plant plumes.
Monroe was among six individuals honored by EPRI for his leadership in coordinating and managing a study of the effectiveness of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology in changing the form of mercury in the flue gas of coal-fired power plants. The results of this work have shown that SCR systems, particularly when used on bituminous coals, can convert most elemental mercury into a form that can be removed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems.
This is the second award Monroe has received from EPRI within the past month. In March, EPRI honored Monroe and three other Southern Company engineers -- Steve Wilson, Mark Berry and Nick Irvin -- for their initiative and support in evaluating key EPRI mercury control technologies through full-scale and bench-scale demonstrations.
“We applaud John Jansen and Larry Monroe for their continuous efforts to understand key environmental issues and apply appropriate technologies to address them,” said Charles Goodman, senior vice president of research and environmental policy for Southern Company. “Their work is a key reason why Southern Company is highly regarded as a leader in environmental technology.”
Nominations for the annual awards come from EPRI staff or utility members. The winners are selected by EPRI’s Delivery and Applications Committee of the Environment Sector Council, which is comprised of senior environmental managers from across the industry.
"These awards express our appreciation to individuals who go the extra mile to champion the adoption and use of EPRI science and technology, thereby creating new value for their companies. In so doing, they are also creating value for their customers and society," said Dr. Stanley Sussman, EPRI`s vice president for environment.
With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named three consecutive years No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has been ranked the nation’s top energy utility in the American Customer Satisfaction Index four years in a row, and in the latest survey tied for the highest score among all service industry companies. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.
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