Project manager Scott Gibbs launched his career with Black & Veatch fresh out of college in 1984. Some 39 years later, he literally went out with a bang – pushing an honorary plunger for client Liberty's Asbury Power Plant Implosion on June 29, 2023. A fitting end to his long, distinguished career with the Black & Veatch and a testament to his relationship with the utility.

Gibbs began his career in Black & Veatch’s control electrical engineering department. He worked largely on coal plants, progressing as a schematic designer and then as a project discipline engineer.

In 2012, Gibbs joined the former BV Power Generation Services group as a project manager. He began working with what was then Empire District (later known as Liberty) where BV served as owner’s engineer. Gibbs continued to support that client through numerous projects up to his retirement.

“I was Liberty's first point of contact for anything that came up. I always told them we can do anything. I may not be able to do it myself, but I know a lot of smart people at Black & Veatch. And you know, every time they've called we've been able to help them out," Gibbs said.

Making the Transition

In 2017, Liberty contacted Gibbs about looking into the possible decommissioning of the Asbury Power Plant. Black & Veatch provided studies and estimating services that ultimately led to Liberty's decision to demolish and turn the site into the Asbury Renewable operations center.

Watching this sitemake the energy transition is just one of many major shifts Gibbs has seen in his career. He started before computers were a part of design, when most generation projects were in coal. He’s seen plant control systems go from large manual control boards to large digital screens. He has also witnessed the transition of Black & Veatch into the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business and, most recently, renewables business.

“The industry is always changing. And if you're not changing with it, you know you're going to get left behind,” Gibbs said. “I think that's a testament to where Black & Veatch is. It's all part of continuing to evolve, continuing to be good stewards of the resources we have here on Earth.”

That spirit of evolution has Gibbs embracing power generation of the future, without any hard feelings.

“Somebody asked if I was sad about something I had put a lot of work into going away, but I guess I haven't looked at it that way,” he said. “I'd I look at it more as the continued evolution of what the energy industry looks like, and this is just a part of it. But then, like I said, anytime you get to blow something up, that's pretty cool.”