TVA
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Business
Public Power “Big Dog” TVA Takes Fresh Approach to Resource Planning
At the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), generation transitions are nothing new. The nation’s largest public power system—with 34 GW of generating capacity, supplying retail distributors with nine million
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Nuclear
Watts Bar Unit 2: A “Deferred Nuclear Plant” Gets Back into the Game
Construction was suspended on Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in the late 1980s, and the plant sat idle for more than 20 years. Now, through equipment refurbishment and replacement, Unit 2 is on track to become the first new commercial nuclear reactor to come online in the U.S. in the 21st century. Electricity consumption […]
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Coal
Public Power “Big Dog” TVA Takes Fresh Approach to Resource Planning
At Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), repeated generation transitions have marked the giant public power utility’s long history, from hydro, to coal, to nuclear. The latest resource plan points to natural gas, along with renewables and energy efficiency, as the basis for the agency’s generating future. At the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), generation transitions are nothing […]
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O&M
Balancing Risk, Reliability, and Safety at Plants Slated for Retirement
When the decision is made to retire a power plant, the work of getting there is just beginning. Maintaining safe and reliable generation requires strong leadership, clear communications, and heightened attention to operations and maintenance, staff morale, and post-shutdown plans. For utilities and other generators facing the challenge of winding down operations at an […]
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Nuclear
First New Nuclear Unit in U.S. in Nearly 20 Years Is on Track to Begin Operating in 2015
Plant officials from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Watts Bar nuclear facility said during a senior management meeting presentation that Unit 2—currently under construction—is expected to reach commercial operations on Dec. 13, 2015. Assuming it does, the unit will be the first nuclear reactor added to the U.S. fleet since Watts Bar Unit 1 was […]
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Coal
TVA’s Draft Strategy Hints at Future Energy Efficiency Boosts, Coal Retirements
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may further reduce its coal-fired capacity and scrap its unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant, the utility’s long-awaited draft power generation strategy unveiled on March 9 shows. The federally owned corporation has been developing its 2015 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), essentially a power planning roadmap to 2033, since fall 2013. The […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Environmental Group Alleges TVA Coal Ash Pollution Is Leaking Into River
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) informed the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Nov. 10 that it intends to bring suit under the Clean Water Act to stop the release of coal ash pollutants it says are leaking from the TVA’s Gallatin coal ash ponds into the Cumberland River. Gallatin Fossil Plant is a four-unit […]
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Coal
TVA Likely to Retire Three Coal Units in Tennessee
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is poised to decide on the fate of a coal-fired power plant in Tennessee. At its next meeting on Aug. 21, the TVA board will likely choose to retire three existing coal-fired units at the Allen Fossil Plant in Shelby County, Tenn., by December 2018 and replace them with a […]
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Coal
TVA to Retire More Coal Units, Banks on Nuclear Future
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will retire more than 3 GW at eight coal units in Alabama and Kentucky to address “challenging trends” that point to lower power demand, a slow economy, uncertainty in commodity pricing, and tougher air pollution rules. The U.S. corporate agency’s board of directors on Nov. 14 approved plans to retire all […]