The Tennessee Valley Authority announced today that it will shut down its units at its Widows Creek Fossil Plant near Stevenson, Ala., the John Sevier Fossil Plant near Rogersville, Tenn., and one unit at the Shawnee Fossil Plant in Kentucky.
TVA President Tom Kilgore said he doesn't anticipate any immediate employee layoffs because of the plant closings, but he said TVA can't afford to put costly pollution controls on the oldest and least efficient plants.
The agency will close two units at John Sevier, six units at Widows Creek and one unit at Shawnee to idle 1,000 megawatts of electricity by 2015.
"These are tough decisions for our coal plants, but it is necessary," Kilgore said. "We know that cleaner air is a priority going forward, and that means relying less on coal."
For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.