Construction at Philpott Dam is expected to finish in the summer of 2027 after it stopped generating electricity over six years ago due to a landslide.
The dam creates electricity using two generators, and there hasn’t been two-unit generation at the dam for over 10 years, said Chris Powell, the operations project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After a fire, also known as an “arc flash,” in the powerhouse in 2016, the dam only used one generator with plans to restore both.
“We had that planned rehab, but the landslide beat us to it,” Powell said.
That was the landslide in May 2020, which was caused by four inches of rain in 30 minutes and completely halted electricity production, Powell said. That pushed mud and debris into the powerhouse and required a hillside stabilization. The rehabilitation project was delayed until the mud and debris were removed.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired David Boland Inc. to do the project for $19.7 million, according to the Boland website.
Construction on the hillside is almost complete, along with drainage work, piping, paving and planting trees, Powell said. The powerhouse rehabilitation project should be done by early summer, he said.
After construction finishes, testing will be conducted before electricity generation starts again, Powell said. That will include running the generator units for a few days to assess how they are working.
How much power the dam will generate won’t be determined until testing, Powell said, but 18 or 19 megawatts is expected. Before the 2016 arc flash, the dam was generating 15 megawatts, which is enough electricity to serve about 1,900 homes. The powerhouse will still only have two units, but with updated, brand new generators, Powell said. With the new units, a 20% increase in efficiency is anticipated.
The electricity produced at Philpott is dispersed through Appalachian Power lines, so Philpott does not power any homes in Henry County, since the county isn’t an Appalachian Power customer, Powell said.
Powell said the primary purpose of the lake and dam is not to generate electricity. It’s flood reduction.
Congress authorized the creation of Philpott under the Flood Control Act, after the 1937 floods left inches of water in the streets in Bassett. The dam was constructed between 1948 and 1951.
“Before the dam, the Smith River Valley flooded all the time,” Powell said. “That’s the main reason that the dam was built, was to protect downstream communities and facilities.”
The dam has saved the area an estimated $1.6 billion in flood reduction damage since it was built, Powell said.
“This last weekend, we probably would have seen a flood if the dam wasn’t here,” Powell said.
The lake went up four feet over the weekend, Powell said.
Philpott is part of the Kerr-Philpott System, Powell said, so over the past 10 years while the dam was down to one unit generation, or no generation, the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir produced more electricity.
“They just picked up our slack, and that’s easy for them,” Powell said. “They have seven large units, where we have two little bitty ones.”
In 2024, the Kerr-Philpott System generated over $38 million in revenue, according to the Southeastern Power Administration annual report.
