Powell Avenue Steam Plant

The Powell Avenue Steam Plant is a coal-burning steam plant located on Powell Avenue at 18th Street adjacent to the Railroad Reservation in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed in 1896 by the Consolidated Electric Light & Power Company which was folded into the Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company in 1898. The plant provided steam power to businesses and downtown streetcars.

The plant became the property of the Birmingham Electric Company in a 1921 reorganization. It was acquired by Alabama Power in 1952 as part of a merger.

The steam plant, which had more than 400 customers in the 1950s, continued to serve about 20 customers well into the first decade of the 21st century. These included UAB, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, the Eye Foundation Hospital, Colonial Bank and the Alabama Theatre.

Though they are generally well-maintained, steam pipes running below city streets often leak enough to create visible steam exhaust through street grates in the downtown area. On one occasion in July 2003 an expansion joint failure led to a cloud of steam enveloping a car on the 700 block of 19th Street North and burning its occupants, a brother and sister from Columbus, Georgia. The joint was repaired.

In addition to the Powell Avenue Plant, Alabama Power operates a gas-powered steam boiler near UAB's Bartow Arena. In 2008 Alabama Power notified its steam customers and the Alabama Public Service Commission that it intended to cease providing steam service in Birmingham because it was no longer financially feasible.

References

• Williams, Roy L. (June 4, 2008) "Century-old steam power source may end in Birmingham." Birmingham News