The James F. Crist Generating Plant' (commonly Plant Crist) is one of three plants wholly-owned by the Gulf Power Company. It is in northwest Pensacola on Governor's Bayou, where Escambia River feeds into Escambia Bay. It is named for James F. Crist, president of Gulf Power from 1948 to 1955.
The plant is coal-operated and has four active generating units with a total generating capacity of 930,000 kilowatts. A $650 million state of the art "scrubber" system was installed in December of 2009, removing more than 95 percent of regulated emissions.
The plant was first brought on-line on January 1, 1945. In the preceding years during World War II, limited construction supplies had precluded the construction of the much-needed plant, forcing Gulf Power to barge in a surplus floating Navy generating unit, which operated on pilings for one year and helped meet the rapidly increasing demand. The plant's first generating unit had a capacity of 22,500 kilowatts. More units were added over the years, with the 500,000-kilowatt Unit 7 coming on-line in August 1973.
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