The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors voted Wednesday to continue burning coal indefinitely at its Kingston and Cumberland fossil plants, reversing its previous plan to retire the units over the next two years.
The board cited a growing demand for electricity and President Donald Trump’s declaration of an “energy emergency” in the decision that came hours before Trump signed an executive order in Washington directing the Pentagon to use coal.
“[We] recommend continuing to operate over 3,000 megawatts of beautiful, clean coal that will directly support energy resilience, reliability, and low-cost power for the 10 million people we serve,” TVA Chief Financial Officer Tom Rice told the board ahead of its vote. “We plan to operate our coal units for as long as we possibly can.”
As of last fall, the combined 3,800-MW coal capacity at the Cumberland and Kingston plants — enough to power 2.16 million homes — was going to be replaced with 3,000 MW of mostly natural gas generation through 2028. There was to be little to no gap between the coal units retiring and the gas units coming online.
