The Tennessee Valley Authority began retiring its coal plants shortly after its Kingston facility released a billion gallons of toxic ash into the environment nearly two decades ago. TVA was nearing the end, with just four coal plants remaining; the largest and most polluting in the fleet, Cumberland Fossil Plant, was on track to close at least partially this year as the utility finished building a multi-billion-dollar gas plant next door.
Now, TVA plans to keep burning coal there — and some environmental groups are taking legal action.
The Southern Environmental Law Center revealed Friday that it plans to sue the federal utility for violating the Clean Air Act with its new plan.
“Running the Cumberland coal plant alongside its new gas plant is more than a broken promise to the millions of people who rely on TVA for power,” said SELC attorney Delaney King, “it caused the federal utility to violate federal law while putting communities in Middle Tennessee at risk in the process.”
Combined, the two plants are projected to release 4,700 tons of nitrogen oxides, 8,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 1,500 tons of fine particulate matter each year. These pollutants are linked to increases in some cancers, asthma, respiratory diseases and heart problems. The facilities also release large amounts of carbon dioxide, directly, and methane, upstream, which warm the planet.
Why is TVA keeping coal online?
TVA currently operates four coal plants: Cumberland, near Clarksville; Gallatin, about 30 miles from Nashville; Kingston, near Knoxville; and Shawnee, in Paducah, Kentucky. The Cumberland plant was built in 1973, while the others date back to the 1950s.
In 2021, TVA announced a plan to retire these remaining coal plants by 2035. Two of them, at Kingston and Cumberland, were scheduled to close completely by 2027 and 2028, respectively, and be replaced with equivalent gas generation. The Cumberland gas plant is scheduled to come online by the end of this year.
“Substantial performance and cost risk is carried by operating a coal fleet reaching the end of its useful life,” TVA wrote at the time, pointing to unplanned outages. Many Tennesseans experienced this firsthand during Winter Storm Elliott three years ago amid rolling blackouts when TVA’s coal and gas plants failed.
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All four of the utility’s coal plants rank among the top five climate polluters in Tennessee and Kentucky — with Cumberland consistently ranking as the top emitter. Air pollution from these plants is also linked to hundreds of premature deaths each year.
Ending coal use would lead to a “75% reduction in carbon intensity” from a 2005 baseline while significantly reducing environmental impacts from nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, ash and water use, TVA said in 2021.
TVA has emphasized the need to close its coal plants quickly as one of its primary justifications for building new gas plants that will burn methane for decades instead of selecting a renewable source of energy like wind or solar, which would produce no air pollution on site and use little to no water.
Earlier this year, however, following pressure from the Trump administration to revitalize the coal industry, TVA announced plans to keep its coal plants online until 2039.
TVA estimated a maintenance cost of $730 million to keep the Cumberland Fossil Plant in operation, according to SELC. The utility received about $115 million from federal funding, including a large chunk from the U.S. Department of Energy.
“TVA remains committed to serving the Valley with energy that is reliable, affordable and resilient, now and for the future,” TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in a statement.
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