An environmental group opposed to plans to build natural gas-fired generation to replace aging coal plants in Tennessee is suing the Tennessee Valley Authority to gain access to TVA records the group claims are illegally being withheld from the public.
In a 10-page complaint filed in federal court in Knoxville, the Center for Biological Diversity claims TVA has failed to properly release thousands of pages of public records concerning the agency's consideration of plans to build new gas plants to replace the Cumberland and Kingston fossil plants, which are expected to be shut down during the next decade.
Last year, the center filed two requests under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information about the prospect of extending natural gas pipelines and building more natural gas generation to help replace some of the lost power production if two more Tennessee coal plants are shut down as TVA is now considering. The center also is seeking communications between board members and fossil fuel industry officials or lobbyists.
"TVA should not be playing hide the ball with the region's energy future," Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the center's energy justice program, said in a statement Tuesday. "People have a right to know why this public utility and its board are standing in the way of affordable, safe and renewable energy. If TVA had nothing to hide, it would release these public records so customers could see why the agency decided to double down on dirty fossil fuels and who influenced those decisions."
TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said Tuesday that TVA has not yet been served with the lawsuit "so it would be inappropriate for us to comment on its specifics.
"As a federal agency, TVA follows all Freedom of Information Act requirements when responding to document requests from the public, which includes the application of qualified exemptions under that law," Hopson said in a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
TVA has conducted public hearings and last year released a scoping report on its environmental assessment of the Cumberland Fossil Plant in northern Middle Tennessee and a preliminary environmental assessment for shutting down the Kingston Fossil Plant in East Tennessee.
In its lawsuit, the center said that TVA identified almost 9,000 pages of data and reports in response to one of its records requests, but the federal utility declined to release the documents because it claims their release might impair agency deliberations.
Hopson said TVA is still undergoing its environmental impact statement review and study about the future of Cumberland and Kingston, although plans are being developed for gas pipeline extensions to the plant sites for new natural gas plants.
Last week, the Sierra Club blasted TVA for continuing to rely upon fossil fuels for electricity generation and claimed TVA lags behind other Southern utilities in implementing solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.
TVA is studying plans to shut down at least one of its units at Cumberland by 2030 and shutter the other unit by 2033, at the latest, although no final decision has yet been made.
Cumberland is TVA's biggest single remaining coal plant. TVA plans to shut down its entire fleet of coal generators by 2035.
The Sierra Club study found TVA plans to retire just 3% of its existing coal plants by 2030 and could build 4 gigawatts of new natural gas generating capacity. TVA has pledged to phase out its coal-fired generation by 2035 after having already shut down more than half of the 59 coal-fired units it once operated.
TVA has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions below 2005 levels by at least 70% by 2030 and by 80% by 2035. But President Joe Biden said he wants the electricity grid to be carbon neutral by 2035.
TVA President Jeff Lyash previously said combined-cycle natural gas plants are cleaner and more efficient than the aging coal plants now in use, and they can be used intermittently to help produce power when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. TVA has maintained 99.999% reliable power for more than 20 years, and Lyash said the utility must maintain a diverse portfolio of generation to help meet what he projects will be a growing demand for electricity with more electric vehicles and more industrial power shifting from fossil fuels to electricity.
In comments filed last week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, however, the Center for Biological Diversity urged commissioners to reject a gas pipeline application for the Cumberland plant, saying TVA failed to fully consider alternatives to new fossil fuel facilities.
"If TVA insists it's cheaper to build new fossil fuel projects and quash renewable energy alternatives, the public should at least be able to see the math," Sarri-Tobar said in a statement Tuesday. "All we've seen so far are empty promises and greenwashing. Without the details, people should assume TVA is withholding the data because the numbers simply don't add up."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter @dflessner1.
Staff Photo / Water vapor streams from the top of a scrubber tower in 2012 in Harriman, Tenn., at the Kingston Fossil Plant.