SHREVEPORT, La., November 29, 2006 – Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) has announced the appointment of Timothy Gross as plant manager for the new John W. Turk, Jr. Power Plant now under development in Southwest Arkansas near Fulton. The plant had formerly been known as the Hempstead County project. Gross currently serves as maintenance superintendent at AEP’s Oklaunion Power Plant in Vernon, Texas, northwest of Wichita Falls.
 
A 24-year employee, Gross has held a variety of power plant operations, maintenance and management positions since joining AEP in 1982. In addition to Oklaunion, Gross held leadership roles at Fort Phantom (Abilene, Tx.) and Oak Creek (Blackwell, Tx.) power plants.

“Gross’s extensive experience in all aspects of plant operations and maintenance and his focus on safety will provide valuable insight as the Turk plant proceeds through design, construction, commissioning and operation,” says Paul Franklin, region director, fossil and hydro generation for AEP. The Turk Plant will be a new baseload coal-fired 600-megawatt plant utilizing state-of-the-art coal combustion technology called ultra-supercritical. Located in Hempstead County, the plant will begin commercial operation in 2011.

A native of Stamford, Texas, Gross earned a manufacturing engineering degree from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. He is active in youth sports, and was president of the Wylie All-Sports Booster Club. His wife, Laurie, a middle school language arts teacher in Vernon, is from Haskell, Texas and they have two grown children in college, Matt and Leslie. They are members of Beltway Baptist Church in Abilene.