TVA cuts the public out, keeps expensive and dangerous coal plants operating indefinitely
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2026
CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org
HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — In a staggering reversal, the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously today to continue operating its Kingston and Cumberland coal plants indefinitely, instead of retiring them as it brings new gas power plants online at the same sites. The vote took place during the board’s quarterly meeting, which was the first since four new board members nominated by President Donald Trump were confirmed, bringing the utility’s governing body back to quorum after nearly a year.
The board also made striking revisions to its strategic priorities, eliminating goals around both renewable energy technologies and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and approved an additional 150 megawatts of power for the contested data centers operated by Elon Musk’s xAI in Memphis.
“Regular working people shouldn’t have to pay to keep these expensive, polluting power plants online just because some politicians want to prop up the coal industry, or for TVA to supply power to large industrial customers like data centers,” said Bri Knisley, Director of Public Power Campaigns at Appalachian Voices. “If TVA wants to meet demand quickly and affordably, it should choose distributed, clean solutions that will improve reliability for households during major storms, and require data centers to pay for their own clean power.”
TVA has long said that keeping the Kingston and Cumberland coal plants open would increase costs for ratepayers and create serious reliability concerns, using the planned retirement as the justification for new methane gas plants and pipelines. Now, it plans to operate coal and gas side-by-side at each site, bowing to political pressure from the administration — which TVA leaders referenced repeatedly during the meeting — and breaking its promise to the communities that live by these polluting facilities.
“TVA already found these coal plants to be uneconomical and unreliable, and that hasn’t changed just because the administration wants to keep coal online,” said Leah McCord, Tennessee Projects and Coalition Coordinator at Appalachian Voices. “For TVA to take this action without public input is contrary to the public power model these new board members all recently affirmed.”
