Displaying items by tag: john todd waterman

The CSX rail line through the Nolichucky River Gorge near Erwin, Tennessee was one of many transportation and vital commerce links destroyed by epic river flooding spawned by Tropical Storm Helene Sept. 26-27, 2024. Computer modeling showed Helene was made substantially worse by climate change. Jonathan Mitchell for Hellbender Press

A plea to reject the 'unconscionable' 2026 Integrated Resource Plan and finally focus on clean energy

CLINTON — I urge you, as distinguished members of the TVA Board, not to accept the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan. That deeply flawed plan would commit TVA, which in the past has admirably led the nation in power production, to leading a shameful and costly retreat into clearly outdated and now unconscionable energy generation choices. 

The 2026 IRP predicts AI and other data centers will require increasing amounts of energy. Those needs may well be less than anticipated owing to computer efficiency innovations like quantum computing; new AI models requiring far less data; and rapidly growing public opposition to data centers, but prediction is difficult. Costly overbuilding will be best avoided by waiting and adding readily available and quicker-to-install renewables and storage as required, by which time they will be even cheaper than they already are. 

I agree with most analysts that carbon capture and storage is a fossil fuel industry scam unlikely to ever be effective, let alone cost-effective. 

The IRP’s rosy projections of the economic competitiveness of new nuclear designs fly in the face of nuclear’s long history of massive cost overruns. And nuclear cannot match battery storage’s instant on-off availability switch.  

My overarching concern, though, is this IRP’s abdication of responsibility for climate change. Notwithstanding decades of slick, seemingly believable fossil fuel industry propaganda, an Everest of evidence indicates continuing fossil fuel emissions undeniably will, increasingly and irrevocably, undercut not just our economy but the fundamental quality of life of untold billions of our fellow humans, for as far into that ugly future as we can imagine. 

Citizens call on TVA to stop passing gas

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority in coming years plans to add both natural gas and solar plants to its portfolio to meet what it says are rising energy demands.

TVA’s Board of Directors laid out the federal utility’s plan in a meeting at Norris Middle School in May. Environmentalists at a previous hearing criticized the utility’s focus on natural gas rather than renewables or other measures. Other people, largely tied to local power providers, argued that a switch to renewable energy would be unreliable.

TVA showed a map in a press release following the meeting, showing four proposed natural gas plants and two proposed solar plants. Two of those natural gas plants would be in Tennessee while the other two are planned for Alabama and Kentucky. It stated these new plants will total 3,800 megawatts. It also spoke of its System Operations Center, set to open in fall 2024 in Georgetown to manage the utility’s grid. TVA also stated a desire to research nuclear technologies.

“Our region is experiencing growth at six times the national average, which means we must invest in our current power system and build new generation so we can continue meeting our region’s demand,” said TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash.

Several citizens criticized TVA’s focus on natural gas plants and new pipelines at the listening session May 9. Among them was Clinton resident and activist John Todd Waterman.