TVA’s Gas Buildout
The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning the biggest methane gas buildout of any utility this decade. This public utility has proposed nine new gas power plants since 2020, and the two largest of these — Kingston and Cumberland— would each involve new pipelines to be constructed and owned by multibillion-dollar pipeline corporations. We also anticipate the announcement of a third gas plant in Cheatham County.
The 122-mile Ridgeline Pipeline would be built by Enbridge, Inc. to feed a new gas plant that TVA is planning outside of Kingston, Tennessee, to replace its retiring Kingston coal plant. Ridgeline would cross eight Tennessee counties and tear through waterways over 400 times.
The Cumberland pipeline and the gas plant it would feed is part of TVA’s plan to replace its retiring Cumberland coal plant. TVA has contracted with Kinder Morgan to construct this pipeline. TVA signed contracts with both Kinder Morgan and Enbridge prior to completing required studies of alternative options for replacing the retiring coal plants.
These gas projects aren’t necessary — we have affordable, cleaner, and safer ways to make power that don’t pollute our air, threaten our water and take our land for pipeline giants to profit from.
Kingston Plant and Ridgeline Pipeline
TVA wants to replace the Kingston Fossil Plant — once the largest in the world and the site of the country’s biggest industrial spill — with a gas power plant and 122-mile pipeline that would cross eight counties in Middle Tennessee.
Cumberland Plant and Pipeline
In 2023, former TVA CEO Jeff Lyash announced his decision to replace the Cumberland Fossil Plant with a 1,450 megawatt gas plant and 32-mile pipeline that would cross three Middle Tennessee counties.
Cheatham County
TVA wants to partially replace the second coal-burning unit at the Cumberland City Steam Plant with an off-site gas power plant in the heart of rural Cheatham County.