The Tennessee Valley Authority had previously stated its intentions to retire its four coal plants in Kentucky and Tennessee by 2035. But now, the utility’s CEO said some of the plants could be operating “for the foreseeable future.”
The federal utility’s fleet includes four coal-fired plants: Shawnee Fossil Plant in West Paducah, Kentucky; Gallatin Fossil Plant in Gallatin, Tennessee; Cumberland Fossil Plant in Cumberland City, Tennessee; and Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee.
TVA originally announced its 2035 coal-fired plant retirement goals during the first year of former President Joe Biden’s term. Part of those plans include retiring Kingston’s coal-fired units by 2027 and both of the units at the Cumberland plant by 2028.
However, on a financial conference call last week, CEO Don Moul said recent executive orders from President Donald Trump have led TVA officials to take another look at whether retiring its coal fleet is still in the utility’s best long-term interest.
“We're evaluating these executive orders with respect to coal and the regulatory environment. What I will tell you is that we are re-evaluating the end-of-life study that we did on our coal fleet and we're taking a hard look at our asset strategy with respect to what the regulatory environment is in front of us,” Moul said.
Last month, Trump signed four executive orders aimed at boosting the country’s coal industry. Those orders loosened some emission standards for coal plants, and directed the Department of Justice to target state regulations that could impede energy development.
Trump has also recently granted exemptions from some pollution safeguards to dozens of coal-fired power plants – including all four TVA coal plants. Those exemptions will allow plants to follow more relaxed versions of some major federal clean-air rules – including some targeting mercury, lead, nickel and arsenic emissions.
Under federal law, TVA must conduct a least-cost planning program – which requires the utility to evaluate both existing and new power supplies and resources to provide reliable service at the lost system cost for customers. Moul said TVA is evaluating its coal fleet moving forward under those least-cost principles.
“Right now, we see Shawnee and Gallatin as a strong potential to continue to operate for the foreseeable future as long as we have the regulatory allowance,” Moul said. “We're going to take a close look at Kingston and Cumberland as well with respect to some of the regulatory environment right now. Effluent limitation guidelines, regulations are much more limiting [at Kingston and Cumberland], but more work to be done, and more decisions to be made in the future.”
A coal plant end-of-life evaluation that TVA released in 2021 recommended that retiring the utility’s coal fleet was aligned with the group’s least-cost planning principles – and that retiring the remaining plants would reduce economic, reliability and environmental risks.
Bonnie Swinford, a strategist for the grassroots environmental group Sierra Club, said in a press release issued in the wake of the TVA conference call that delaying the retirement of the coal plants would not only increase energy bills for the utility’s customers, but also endanger their health.
“These expensive, unreliable coal plants are not serving Tennesseans any more than a screen door on a submarine. We deserve clean, affordable energy that paves the way for a healthier future for our community,” Swinford said.
Power generated by coal-fired power plants made up 17% of TVA’s total supply in the first six months of the current fiscal year, according to the utility’s financial quarterly report.
