TVA’s future plans suggest more nuclear, less coal

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s future is likely to include more nuclear power production and less reliance on coal, according to a draft of an assessment of the utility’s options for the next two decades.
The Integrated Resource Plan released Thursday suggests scenarios that could mean idling more coal fired units and adding nuclear units as early as 2018.
A handful of strategies were considered, but the report indicated that TVA would be better positioned in the future if the utility diversified its power production and added more energy efficient and demand response programs.
The public can comment on the plan through November and then TVA will submit the plan to the Environmental Protection Agency in March for a review of the environmental impact. The TVA board will approve plans in April.
The nation’s largest public utility supplies power to nearly 9 million people in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.