It was 48 years ago that Valley Power Plant Unit 1 went into operation, but in four months all three Valley units will shut down as Luminant shifts production to modern, more cost-efficient power plants.

"ERCOT issued a final determination that it did not need Valley Power Plant for Reliability Must Run (RMR) and therefore we plan to mothball Valley 1, 2 and 3 effective Sept. 30, 2010," explained Luminant spokesperson Ashley Monts. "We are working diligently to place impacted employees at other Luminant locations where possible."

The Valley Power Plant, located north of U.S. 82 near Savoy, currently has 20 employees.

Unit 1 went into operation in 1962, Unit 2 went online in 1967 and Unit 3 began generating in 1971. All three steam units were powered by natural gas.

The three Valley units were mothballed in late 2004 / early 2005. All three Valley units were returned to service in the summer of 2006. Valley Unit 1 was then retired in September 2006, while Units 2 & 3 continued operating. In 2007, Unit 1 was brought out of retirement and all three have been operational ever since. Luminant now plans to mothball all three units Sept. 30, 2010.

Mothballed units remain connected to the grid and can be restarted with relatively short notice.

Valley Power Plant has a capacity of 1,115 MW, which is enough to supply electricity to 260,000 homes.

During the fiscal year that ended October 1, 2009, Fannin County collected slightly more than $52,000 in tax revenue from Valley Power Plant, making it the sixth largest producer of tax revenue in the county.