Kingston Fossil Plant Retirement

Roane County, Tennessee

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

Following the publication of the 2019 IRP, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began conducting end-of-life evaluations of our coal fleet to inform long-term planning. TVA’s recent evaluation confirms that the aging coal fleet is among the oldest in the nation and is experiencing deterioration of material condition and performance challenges. The performance challenges are projected to increase because of the coal fleet’s advancing age and the difficulty of adapting the fleet’s generation within the changing generation profile; and, in general, because the coal fleet is contributing to environmental, economic, and reliability risks.

Due to the reasons listed above, TVA intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the impacts associated with the proposed retirement of the nine coal-fired units at the Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) and the construction and operation of facilities to replace the retired generation. To recover the generation capacity lost from the retirement of the KIF units and to account for future load growth, TVA is proposing the addition of approximately 1,450 MW of replacement generation.

TVA conducted scoping on this project and requested public comments on the scope of the EIS, alternatives being considered, and environmental issues that should be addressed as a part of this EIS. The public scoping period ran from June 15, 2021, to July 15, 2021. Comments were received by mail, email, and electronic comment forms.

TVA preliminarily planned to consider three action alternatives in the EIS: (A) Retirement of KIF and construction and operation of a Combined Cycle Combustion Turbine (CC) Gas Plant at the same site; (B) Retirement of KIF, investment in local and regional transmission, and construction and operation of Simple Cycle Combustion Turbine (CT) Gas Plants at alternate locations; (C) Retirement of KIF and construction and operation of Solar and Storage Facilities, primarily at alternate locations.  However, the alternatives considered in the EIS may increase, decrease, evolve or change based on scoping comments received and initial analysis. All retirement options will also include the demolition of the KIF plant.

Whether these or other alternatives are reasonable warranting further consideration under NEPA will be determined in the course of preparing the EIS.  Potential connected actions, such as the natural gas pipeline and transmission upgrades as necessary for any particular alternative, will also be considered in this assessment.  

Public Involvement

Virtual Public Meeting

TVA will be hosting a virtual public meeting to discuss the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and provide an opportunity to submit comments.

Thursday, June 8, 2023, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Eastern

Click here to register for the event. A link to the virtual open house event will be provided upon registration.

In-Person Open Houses

TVA will also be hosting in-person opportunities to submit comments and ask questions.

Thursday, June 13, 2023, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Eastern
Rockwood High School
512 W Rockwood St, Rockwood, TN

Friday, June 14, 2023, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Eastern
Kingston Community Center
201 Patton Ferry Rd, Kingston, TN

Previous Opportunities

TVA hosted an online open house on June 29, 2021, from 6:30 – 8:00 EDT. View a recording of the open house here.

Posters and Maps from the Meeting