NEWS: Decision on Shawnee units due next week BY DAVID ZOELLER dzoeller@paducahsun The Tennessee Valley Authority will decide Tuesday whether to retrofit or retire two units at its Shawnee fossil plant near Paducah. The future of Units 1 and 4 is on the agenda for the TVA board meeting to be held via webcast at 10 a.m. The decision is required by TVAs 2011 agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and a consent decree with four TVA-region states, including Kentucky, and three environmental advocacy groups. As part of that agreement, TVA must notify EPA and the other parties to the settlement of its decision by Dec. 31. In its final environmental assessment of the issue released Tuesday, TVA indicated that neither option under consideration would result in significant impacts on the environment. TVA requested public comments on the scope of the environmental assessment during a three-week period in October and November, and also on the draft assessment in late November and early December. In the initial comment period, TVA received 85 letters, e-mails and on-line submissions, the majority of which supported installing the emission controls and continuing to operate the two units, according to TVAs final assessment. Bryan Carner, chair-elect of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, was among the local leaders who spoke in favor of the retrofitting option at the TVAs quarterly board meeting in early November. We feel fortunate TVA is showing a continued interest to invest at the steam plant and know that it will bring with it an immediate and future boost to our economy, Carner said. As it did in its draft environmental assessment, TVAs final version of the assessment identified retrofitting as the preferred alternative. By implementing this alternative, TVA would comply with the (EPA) clean air agreements consistent with TVAs mission to provide reliable and affordable power and TVAs goal of maintaining a balanced portfolio on generation resources, according to the final assessment. The costs of installing the additional air pollution controls is estimated by TVA to be between $175-$225 million. If it decides to retrofit the units, TVA would still have the discretion to change the decision to retire the units later, according to the agreement with the EPA. The board of directors webcast can be accessed, beginning at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, at: services.choruscall/links/tva141230.html (this link is also on the board of directors page on TVAs website - tva.gov). The webcast will also be available for viewing after the event occurs, accessed via the board of directors page on TVAs website.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 17:33:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015