After just one year of construction, the Nebo Power Station in Payson was dedicated Tuesday, making it the first power plant of its kind to be constructed in Utah.

The dedication of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems plant featured a visit from Gov. Olene Walker, but Jim Nolan, president of the company that built the plant, had the most intriguing news.

“We were put to the test to design and build this plant in 20 months,” Nolan said. “You are now the benefactors of the most efficient power plant in the state of Utah.”

In 2001, then-Gov. Michael Leavitt announced an energy policy calling for the development of stable and reliable resources to address Utah’s electrical power needs.

The new plant will allow 17 UAMPS municipalities, including Payson, Lehi and Springville, to use the facility for supplemental energy as an alternative during times of high-price power.

“Here we are, just three years later, and we have this great state of the art facility,” Walker said. “People will receive power at a reasonable rate because of this project. It’s a breakthrough.”

The Nebo Power Station can generate up to 140 megawatts of electricity for the residents of the member cities in high demand times.

Nolan said the plant produces energy through two turbines. A combustion turbine burns natural gas to produce the first level of power and then a steam turbine runs on the waste heat from the combustion turbine to produce additional electricity.

The two turbines work together to create electrical energy at a 50 percent efficiency rate, a rate Nolan said is much higher than other power plants.

“We have 14 skilled operators to ensure efficiency,” Nolan said. “Think of all those cars driving down the interstate and their pollution; we have less than that coming out of our towers.”

Nolan said the plant can be started in adverse weather conditions — from minus 20 degrees to 105 degrees — without a problem.

Many Payson city officials were in the crowd, including Mayor Bernell Evans, who offered a dedicatory prayer for the facility.

“Our staff has put in a lot of hours working with the UAMPS board,” Evans said. “There was some concern about the noise, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”

UAMPS was organized in 1980 to provide customers with cost-effective sources of energy.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.