TVA Considers Postponing Retirement for Deadly Coal Plants

Chattanooga, TN - Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Don Moul announcedthat the country's largest federal utility is considering delaying retirement of four coal plants in its fleet.

In 2021, TVA announced its plans to retire all of its remaining four coal plants: Shawnee, Gallatin, Kingston, and Cumberland, by 2035. According to the utility's own evaluations, its coal fleet is operating beyond its intended book life and delaying the coal plant retirements beyond 2035 would threaten reliability given the age and condition of the plants

By delaying the retirement of these four plants, TVA will raise customers' bills while worsening pollution. TVA's own modeling demonstrated that the cheapest generation mix for customers included retiring the coal fleet and not including any new coal resources.

Delaying the retirement of these four plants would also increase the risk of heart attacks, asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses, cancer, and premature deaths for Tennesseans. In total, these four plants cause 241 premature deaths, 2,444 asthma attacks, and 113 heart attacks every year.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Strategist Bonnie Swinford issued the following statement:

"We must be clear about what delaying coal plant retirements means for Tennesseans: TVA wants to make us pay more for our energy bills just so we can breathe in more toxic air and suffer worse health consequences.

"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, and the Sierra Club will continue to fight for that."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.