Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

At a public meeting this week, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) consumers voiced concerns about the safety of moving toxic coal ash from the Kingston, Tenn., plant and whether the nation’s largest utility has considered natural gas for electricity production over coal and nuclear power. But those concerns may likely have fallen on deaf ears.

The TVA has pulled together an advisory panel to put together an Integrated Resource Plan that will set the course for the utility for the next several years. But some are skeptical that consumers’ interests will be considered, arguing that the advisory panel is stacked with industry and large electricity users and advocates of nuclear power. Few consumers and conservation-minded individuals have a voice in the group.

Furthermore, the panel does not plan to allow the public to listen to the meetings, nor will it provide notes of the meetings. “At the end of the day, we know our interest will not have a fair hearing,” says Louise Gorenflo with the Solar Valley Coalition. The Solar Valley Coalition is a network of sustainable energy advocates across Tennessee, originally founded in January 2007 to respond to the TVA’s Draft Strategic Plan, which had omitted the words “energy efficiency,” “energy conservation,” and “renewable energy.”

Last December, more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash broke free from an impoundment pond at the TVA’s Kingston plant and poured onto a neighboring community. The sludge knocked houses off their foundations, flooded property and oozed into the nearby Emory River. Called one of the largest environmental disasters in the country, the massive coal ash spill will likely cost the TVA more than a $1 billion in clean up efforts and payments to those who suffered property loss or are suffering from health concerns from inhalation of fly ash.

This week’s TVA board agenda includes a possible rate change to help offset the utility’s costs.

Source: Tennessean

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