STP reorganizing in preparation for expansion effort

STP Nuclear Operating Company announced it will make organizational changes to prepare for its expansion to four reactors from its current two units.

Effective June 1, the chief nuclear officer responsibilities will be separated from the president and chief executive officer position. Ed Halpin, currently site vice president, will be named CNO. Reporting to Halpin will be the engineering, site vice president and shared services functions.

Joe Sheppard will continue to oversee operations at STP as president and CEO.

Dave Rencurrel, currently vice president of Engineering and Strategic Projects, will be named site vice president. The plant general manager, oversight and outages and strategic projects functions will report to Rencurrel.

The vice president of Engineering and Strategic Projects responsibilities will be separated into two functions: engineering, and outages and strategic projects. Tim Powell, currently site engineering manager, will be named vice president of engineering. Louis Peter will continue as head of Outages and Strategic Projects.

STP supplies approximately 7.5 percent of the electricity used in Texas. The plant is managed by the STP Nuclear Operating Company and is owned by Austin Energy, CPS Energy and NRG Texas. STP's twin reactors produce 2,700 megawatts of electricity, enough for approximately two million homes. The planned new reactors will double the plant's capacity.