TVA votes to close 2 coal plants, despite political pressure from Trump and Kentucky GOP

by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News

Brushing aside pleas from coal-friendly politicians, Tennessee Valley Authority’s board voted Thursday to retire a 49-year-old coal-fired power plant in Kentucky. President Donald Trump and the state’s top elected officials had fought to keep it open, even though TVA concluded it would be too expensive to do so.

In the past week, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had argued in media postings and at a rally that burning coal at the Paradise power plant was essential to their state’s economy and to national security. Trump weighed in on Twitter, saying “coal is an important part of our electricity generation mix.”

The presidential tweet thrust the TVA, a federally owned power provider that serves 10 million people in seven Southeastern states, into the national spotlight.

Read more: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14022019/tva-coal-power-plants-shut-down-vote-trump-mcconnell-pressure-paradise-kentucky-bull-run-tennessee?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=e8dc155e15-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-e8dc155e15-327824881