Shitstain's TVA Nominee Only Dissenting Vote In Decision To Close KY, TN Coal Power Plants
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Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevins (R) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also urged TVA to keep the Paradise unit open as part of their efforts to prop up the declining coal industry in Appalachia. TVA’s proposal to close the Bull Run coal plant in Tennessee faced little resistance from local and state officials.
TVA board member Kenny Allen, who voted against the retirement of the remaining Paradise unit, warned that its closure would have a major impact on the local economy and employees at the plant. “We’ve even heard from the president on this matter,” Allen said. “I’m not completely comfortable with the recommendation.”
Prior to getting nominated by Trump to the TVA board, Allen, who was the only dissenting vote in Thursday’s plant closure vote, served as chief operating officer for Armstrong Coal. In early 2018, Murray Energy bought most of Armstrong Coal’s mines after Armstrong Coal filed for bankruptcy protection. While working as Armstrong’s COO, Allen criticized TVA’s plans to retire two other units at the Paradise coal plant, saying their closure would have a “dramatic effect” on local coal producers like Armstrong Coal.
In 2014, at a Greater Muhlenberg Chamber of Commerce Meeting in Kentucky, Allen argued that retiring those units would impact both coal’s share of power generation in the state as well as cost the state hundreds of jobs (those units were retired in early 2017, and replaced by natural gas). In doing so, Allen effectively argued that TVA’s transition away from coal — and towards cheaper, cleaner sources of energy like natural gas or renewables — would negatively impact Armstrong’s business.
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https://thinkprogress.org/tva-coal-vote-trump-mcconnell-2891f63fc932/