HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Inside the turbine room of the Kingston Fossil Plant, heat shimmers off nine sets of giant generators and turbines connected to boilers where the Tennessee Valley Authority has burned coal since the 1950s.
The expansive room feels around 100 degrees.
“This whole process is full of heat,” plant manager Jeff Kickert said during a tour Tuesday.
The towering plant, once the largest of its kind in the world, celebrated its 70th birthday earlier this month. Its workforce of around 200 people is preparing for its scheduled retirement by the end of 2027.
Outside in the cool air and across a small ridge, TVA is building a $1.8 billion natural gas plant designed to replace the coal plant.