The Tennessee Valley Authority has cut its carbon emission by nearly 60% since 2005 by shutting down more than half of the 59 coal-fired generating units the utility once operated, and the federal utility is developing plans to shut down even more of its coal power plants by the end of the decade.
But a new study released Monday by an environmental group concerned about global warming says TVA lags behind most other utilities in its future clean energy plans and is one of the biggest purchasers of new natural gas plants. In a 29-page report labeled "The Dirty Truth about Utility Climate Pledges," the Sierra Club claims TVA is substituting one fossil fuel for another and is failing to meet President Joe Biden's goal of trying to have a carbon-free electric grid by 2035.
"TVA likes to claim it is a 'clean-energy leader' and is committed to partnering with others to go further and faster to achieve its carbon-reduction initiatives, but the facts show this is far from the truth," Cara Bottorff, a senior managing analyst for the Sierra Club, said in a report Monday.
Among the future power plans for 77 operating electric utilities analyzed by the Sierra Club, TVA ranked the highest for planned natural gas capacity in 2030 and ranked second highest behind only Alabama Power in keeping coal plants operating by 2030.
TVA has shut down its John Sevier, Widows Creek, Colbert, Allen, New Johnsonville and Paradise coal plants already and is considering plans to shut down its Kingston and Cumberland fossil plants within the next decade. In their place, TVA is proposing to build more energy-efficient combined-cycle gas plants to help meet peak power demands and to add more solar, wind and nuclear plants to meet baseload generation needs.
In 2005, 60% of TVA's generation came from coal, but that share is expected to be cut to about 15% this year and even lower in coming years.
TVA this summer also issued the biggest request for proposals for renewable and clean energy of any U.S. utility. TVA is seeking proposals from independent power producers for up to 5,000 megawatts of carbon free energy that can be added to the power grid by 2029, including not only wind, solar and geothermol sources backed by the Sierra Club but also nuclear power plants, including small modular reactors.
But the Sierra Club said TVA needs to move quicker to a carbon-free future to help limit growing problems from global warming, which the EPA says is linked with carbon emissions.
"TVA's Gallatin Fossil Plant Unit 4 was fired up a few days after I was born, and that was over 60 years ago," said Dr. Cris Corley, chair of the Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter, who lives across the Cumberland River from the Gallatin Fossil Plant.
Corley said he is aware of neighbors who worked at the plant and died prematurely of heart attacks, he said in a statement Monday.
"I was not really surprised by TVA's failing grade. I hear the massive coal barrages sounding their foghorns while chugging up the river before sunrise, and I see the smoke stacks while checking my mailbox before sunset," he said. "We are sick and tired of being sick and tired."
Cumberland is TVA's biggest single remaining coal plant. TVA plans to shut down its entire fleet of coal generators by 2035.
But the draft environmental impact statements for the coal shutdowns propose that TVA add natural gas plants to help meet power demands, especially during peak periods. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have objected to adding new fossil fuel generation.
But the gas plants are needed to help balance intermittent generation from solar and wind generators, which can't produce energy when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow, TVA Vice President Buddy Eller said in a phone interview Monday.
"It's easy to play the role of Monday morning quarterback when you don't have the responsibility to maintain affordable, reliable and clean energy supply," Eller said.
The Sierra Club statements "cherry-pick information" based only on firm committed plans and don't consider ongoing studies and future options by TVA to continue to phase out coal and further reduce its carbon emissions, Eller said. The Sierra Club also has opposed TVA plans to develop small modular reactors to expand its nuclear fleet to help replace fossil fuels and has pushed TVA to expand more use of solar power.
"Unlike Sierra Club, TVA and the region we serve must balance affordability, sustainability, reliability and resiliency," Eller said "To do that, you cannot pick one technology."
But as America's biggest public power utility, TVA was established to be a "living laboratory" to improve the industry, Sierra Club leaders said.
"Now, our world is facing global crises and skyrocketing 'natural' gas prices, with a federal mandate to stop carbon emissions in the electric sector so we can electrify everything," Amy Kelly, the campaign representative for Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said in a statement Monday. "TVA should be leading the way in this race to renewable energy. Instead, our nation's largest public utility is limping along, weighed down by fossil fuel commitments for decades to come."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter at @Dflessner1.