A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, “He sleeps in a storm.”

The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man.

Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley.

Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his new hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly.

So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed.

He runs out to the field. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped in tarpaulins.

He races to the silo. The doors are latched, and the grain is dry.

And then he understands. “He sleeps in a storm.”

By providing low cost and reliable power (99.9%) our goal has always been to “sleep in a storm”. Our power sources are hydro, wind, coal, and gas. Hydro, coal, and gas are reliable. Hydro is limited, so coal and gas are our major reliable energy sources. The price of gas is all over the board, sometimes cheap, sometimes very expensive. Coal is always cheap and always reliable with a 30-60 day supply of coal on the ground next to the plant. Gas is just in time delivery so gas shortages or pipeline congestion can interrupt gas deliveries. Wind is 35-40% of the time at best and you don’t know when it gusts or when it falls off. Solar is producing power 18% of the time if there are no clouds. It is our coal plants during extreme weather events that allow us to “sleep in a storm”.