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==Proposed Plant Retirements==
{{#evpev:youtube|OsxIfu12p64|300|right|TVA at the Crossroads, produced by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy|right|325frame}}
===December 2009: TVA considering shutting down some aging coal plants===
In August 2009, CEO [[Tom D. Kilgore]] announced that TVA was studying the possibility of closing its [[John Sevier Fossil Plant]] in Tennessee and the oldest six units at its [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant]] in Alabama. A federal judge has ordered TVA to install pollution equipment on the plants by the end of 2013, at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion. However, the company has not yet budgeted any money for the improvements. In 2010 TVA is planning to begin building an $820 million gas-powered plant to replace the generation at its John Servier Plant. The agency has already reduced power production from the oldest six units at Widows Creek. Environmental groups want TVA to shut down or convert to cleaner fuels the oldest and least efficient of its coal plants, including Widows Creek, John Sevier, and [[Johnsonville Fossil Plant|Johnsonville]] plants.<ref>[http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/aug/24/tva-may-shutter-aging-coal-fired-plants/?local "TVA may shutter aging coal-fired plants,"] ''Chattanooga Times Free Press,'' August 24, 2009.</ref>
===August 2010: TVA Announces Plans to Retire 9 Coal-Fired Units===
On August 24, 2010 TVA announced that it wil will retire 9 coal-fired generating units totalling totaling about 1,000 megawatts of capacity at three locations beginning in fiscal year 2011: [[Shawnee Fossil Plant]] Unit 10 in Kentucky, [[John Sevier Fossil Plant]] Units 1 and 2 in Tennessee, and [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant]] Units 1-6 in Alabama, including six units at the [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant]]. In addition TVA stated that it will going to eliminate 200 jobs at these plants starting in 2011, but the workers will be placed in other positions within TVA. CEO [[Tom D. Kilgore]] said that TVA would replace the sidelined coal power with greater reliance on nuclear power and energy efficiency.<ref>[http://www.tva.com/news/releases/julsep10/coal_plants.html "TVA to idle 9 coal-fired units,"] Tennessee Valley Authority press release, August 24, 2010.</ref>
===September 2010: TVA report suggests more nuclear, less coal===
===Landfill selections raise environmental justice concerns===
{{#evpev:youtube|qj2zoh6dUsg|200|left|TVA Sends Toxic Coal Ash to Poor Black Communities|left|250frame}}
Both the Georgia and Alabama landfills are located in areas with higher rates of poverty and higher percentages of African-American residents than state averages, a situation that has raised concerns about [[Environmental justice and coal|environmental justice]]. In Taylor County, more than 24 percent of the population lives in poverty, and over 40 percent of the population is African-American; by contrast, the state as a whole has a 14 percent poverty rate and is 30 percent African-American. Perry County in Alabama has more than 32 percent of its residents living in poverty and a 69 percent African-American population, compared with the state as a whole, which has a poverty rate of over 16 percent and a 26 percent African-American population.<ref name="iss"/> Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson criticized the [[EPA]] for allowing TVA to dispose of ash at a landfill in a poor community in Alabama, calling the decision "tragic and shortsighted." He vowed to monitor the disposal site to ensure the process complies with environmental regulations.<ref>[http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=10657909 "Alabama DA reviewing options on coal ash decision,"] WTVM, July 7, 2009.</ref>
