Tennessee Valley Authority Goes Back on Commitment to Retire Dirty Coal Plants - CleanTechnica

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has reversed its previous commitment to retire its Kingston and Cumberland coal plants, deciding instead to keep these highly polluting facilities operational for the foreseeable future. This reversal undermines TVA’s earlier plans, which justified multi-billion-dollar investments in new methane gas power plants at the same sites based on the promise of closing the coal plants. Environmental advocates criticize the decision as a “bait and switch” that will increase pollution, exacerbate climate change impacts, raise power bills, and reduce grid reliability for communities in the Tennessee Valley. Notably, TVA made this decision without consulting the affected communities, raising concerns about transparency and public involvement in what is supposed to be a public utility. Coal plants like Kingston and Cumberland emit large quantities of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, arsenic, mercury, and carbon dioxide, contributing to respiratory illnesses, neurological problems, cancer, and climate change. These two plants are among Tennessee’s top three carbon dioxide emitters. Despite TVA acknowledging that these plants