Capacity:   196 net megawatts
Location:   Ford, Ky.

Unit #1: 23 net megawatts
Unit #2: 23 net megawatts
Unit #3: 75 net megawatts
Unit #4: 75 net megawatts

Dale Power Station, established in 1954, is one of the oldest fossil-fuel plants in the national co-op network. Located in Ford, Ky., on the Kentucky River, it is owned by Winchester-based East Kentucky Power Cooperative and named after William C. Dale, EKPC’s first board chairman and a pioneer in Kentucky’s rural electric program.                  

One of EKPC’s four power plants, Dale is a coal-fired plant, operating 365 days a year around the clock. The plant’s first two units went into operation in 1954, and EKPC added units in 1957 and 1960. The energy generated from the units is transmitted to 16 electric cooperatives across 89 Kentucky counties. The member cooperatives serve about one million Kentuckians.

Dale has an excellent track record in environmental stewardship. In recent years, employees there have increased energy production while cutting emissions by using a range of technologies. Equipment has been added to reduce the facility’s nitrogen oxide emissions. Special plates connected to the boiler collect ash, a non-hazardous material that is a byproduct of burning coal. Dale has partnered with local schools to use this byproduct, which resembles sand, to build soccer and softball fields.

We pride ourselves on providing Kentuckians low-cost, dependable power. Our purpose today is the same as it was when rural electrification began. We exist not to make money but to improve the lives of our customers at the end of the line.