Tennessee Valley Authority closing 8 coal fired power plants

Hot Air ^ | November 17, 2013 | Jazz Shaw

[george76]

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal corporation which operates energy facilities and other land management operations across multiple states, has announced that they will be closing eight coal fired power plants. They will seek to reduce coal sourced energy to 20% of their total capacity and the plants in question will be closed in Alabama and Kentucky. (The latter plants faced some headwinds as Mitch McConnell fought to stop them from closing, but the TVA overruled him.)

[bert]

I think that although the coal fired units are being shut down, they are being replaced by gas fired units. This is already underway.

The John Sevier Steam Plant is now gas.

[SC_Pete]

Guys in the mountains will offset the rate increases by burning wood.

[moovova]

“...people all over the world were getting rather chunky ...”

No worries mate. Michelle O noticed that also, and has that situation well in hand.

[OB1kNOb]

“If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them. Under my plan, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” - Barack HUSSEIN Obama, January 2008

[MrB]

It’s not a free market when one type of fuel has artificial burdens placed on it.

[george76]

The lefties are already going after fracking and regular non fracking using the EPA and local zoning regulations.

[george76]

Anything to hurt America

[Eagles6]

Exactly.

[DannyTN]

"The more curious part of this formula is that demand has dropped in the TVA service area. In specific, they cited a company which enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power plants – consuming huge amounts of electricity in the process – shutting down. But even beyond that one large consumer, the TVA cited a “plateau” in electricity demand over the last four or five years with no projections for an increase in the immediate future. I’d be curious to find out what factors led to that."

I can venture some guesses:

• The economy still sucks with 23% unemployment. People are making do with less including electricity.
• We've switched to the mercury containing florescent light bulbs reducing energy consumption from residential lights. Strange that our bills don't seem to have gone down at all.
• We're hanging less Christmas lights and more efficient lights.
• Al Gore has cut back (lol, he probably hasn't.)

[Brad from Tennessee]

[It’s the Magic of the Free Market: coal simply can not compete with cheap fracked natural gas.]

Unless you already have an existing coal-fired plant that can't be effectively converted to gas.

[Psiman]

Brother Brad: not saying anything against your children (who I am sure are wonderful)

but on the market, gas is cheaper than coal.

Sorry, That’s it, we all hat the symps, please don’t hate me.