
7 Affordable and Clean Energy (30)
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
A long, sad tale of when coal ash filled a valley so low
Written by Ray ZimmermanIn the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2008, the earthen wall of a containment pond at Tennessee’s Kingston Fossil Plant gave way. The breach released 1.3 million cubic meters (1.7 cubic yards) of sludge, infiltrating a nearby river and damaging dozens of homes. NASA Earth Observatory
Journalist’s book offers deep sweep of 2008 coal-ash disaster at TVA’s Kingston coal plant
CHATTANOOGA — Jared Sullivan’s book, Valley So Low, is “A courtroom drama about the victims of one of the largest environmental disasters in US history — and the country lawyer who challenged the notion that, in America, justice can be bought.” Those words from the publisher’s dust jacket sum up the story, but the pathos of workers, certain that they got sick on the job, and the lawyer’s struggle against a well-funded corporate defense, is in the details.
Most residents of the Tennessee Valley remember the 2008 disaster when a wall of a coal ash slurry rushed out of the Kingston Steam Plant, flooding the Emory River and inundating 300 acres of the surrounding countryside.
Sullivan offered insight into the story to an audience in Chattanooga in October. When workers fell ill after the cleanup, local personal injury lawyer Jim Scott challenged Jacob’s Engineering, a private company the Tennessee Valley Authority contracted to manage the cleanup. Scott was the only lawyer willing to take their case, according to Sullivan.
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Join the Rally for the Valley 2.0
NASHVILLE — Join the rescheduled Rally for the Valley on Sept. 21 2024 at Centennial Park for a day filled with fun, music, learning and community spirit.
The rally, organized by the Clean Up TVA Coalition, which includes Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other allies, calls on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to stop its gas buildout and lead the way to a fossil-free future.
The decisions in front of TVA are significant. They will impact the health and safety of our communities, how much we pay to keep the lights on, and whether we meet our climate targets and achieve energy justice. We are mobilizing with communities from across Tennessee to urge TVA leaders to change course before its too late.
Are you in? Register today!
Editorial: As historic climate legislation turns two, the numbers don't lie
Written by Stephen SmithThe IRA’s clean-energy progress is clearest in our communities
Stephen Smith is executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. He was a founder of the Foundation for Global Sustainability (FGS) and serves on the FGS board of directors. Hellbender Press is published by FGS.
KNOXVILLE — The largest climate investment legislation in U.S. history, the Inflation Reduction Act, celebrated its two-year anniversary in August: two years of reducing harmful pollution, of creating thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs, of welcoming billions of dollars in clean energy investments to the Southeast. The ways the IRA has and will continue to benefit our region and beyond are innumerable — and the numbers don’t lie.
The IRA’s progress is clearest here in our communities: between Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, 559,820 households received more than $1.3 billion in residential clean energy and energy-efficiency tax credits in tax year 2023. Real people are saving money and benefiting from the historic climate law every day — take it from seven SACE members, their IRA stories and the encouraging statistics mentioned here.
The reach of the IRA stretches beyond our homes — over 70,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations now dot the U.S., and federal tax credits on both new and used EVs have saved consumers over $1 billion so far this year alone. Last month, SACE released its updated 2024 Electrify the South Electric Transportation Toolkit to help guide decision-makers through this time of enormous opportunity.
Federal home energy rebate dollars are rolling out to states
Written by Cassandra StephensonThe state of Tennessee will partner with the Tennessee Valley Authority to carry out a federal home energy efficiency rebate program that was included in the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Getty Images via Tennessee Lookout
What might Tennessee’s energy-efficiency rebate plan look like, and when?
This article was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
NASHVILLE — More than $8 billion flagged for home energy rebates in the Inflation Reduction Act is beginning to trickle out of federal coffers, but Tennessee residents will likely have to wait until the spring of 2025 to start applying for their chunk of change.
Each state must shape its own plan to dole out the funding, which can put money residents spend on energy efficiency upgrades back into the households’ pockets if they meet certain requirements. New York and Wisconsin became the first states to begin offering federally funded home energy rebates to their residents in mid-August, two years after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act and its many energy-focused subsidies into law.
In total, the rebate funds are expected to impact between 1 to 2 percent of households across the nation.
Tennessee submitted its application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the more than $167 million earmarked for the state in mid-August. Tennessee’s 2025 rollout timeline largely depends on how quickly the DOE approves the state’s applications and when Tennessee can execute a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority — its chosen implementer — to put the program into action.
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Editorial: TVA executes sharp electric rate increase amid lack of transparency
Written by Southern Alliance for Clean EnergyA protestor holds a sign during a 2021 demonstration against TVA’s plans for continued fossil fuel use outside the federal utility’s headquarters in Knoxville. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
KNOXVILLE — On Thursday, August 22, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Board of Directors will meet in Florence, Alabama to authorize a 5.25 percent electric power rate increase without any public documentation showing why the increase is needed or how those additional revenues will be spent. This rate increase amounts to approximately a staggering half-a-billion-dollar increase for Tennessee Valley ratepayers. Only in the Tennessee Valley could a major utility raise rates without public scrutiny of financial documents.
The 5.25 percent rate increase coupled with last year’s 4.5 percent electric rate increase is strategically set just below a 10 percent threshold that would trigger renegotiation of hundreds of power supply agreements with local utilities. But even with this rate increase, TVA is still racking up debt at a rate not seen in decades.
Based on documents over a year old at this point, we can only guess what is driving TVA’s current financial woes: the largest buildout of fossil gas in the country this decade. These new fossil gas pipelines and power plants aren’t cheap, and TVA’s plan to increase reliance on gas is risky. Families and businesses across the Valley will see increased bills when gas prices rise again and as these new gas power plants become obsolete in just a few short years.
Learn about TVA’s switch from coal to natural gas at June 12 teach-in

ORNL chemists invent a more efficient way to extract lithium
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
OAK RIDGE — Chemists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a more efficient way to extract lithium from waste liquids leached from mining sites, oil fields and used batteries. They demonstrated that a common mineral can adsorb at least five times more lithium than can be collected using previously developed adsorbent materials.
“It’s a low-cost, high-lithium-uptake process,” said Parans Paranthaman, an ORNL Corporate Fellow and National Academy of Inventors Fellow with 58 issued patents. He led the proof-of-concept experiment with Jayanthi Kumar, an ORNL materials chemist with expertise in the design, synthesis and characterization of layered materials.
“The key advantage is that it works in a wider pH range of 5 to 11 compared to other direct lithium extraction methods,” Paranthaman said. The acid-free extraction process takes place at 140 degrees Celsius, compared to traditional methods that roast mined minerals at 250 degrees Celsius with acid or 800 to 1,000 degrees Celsius without acid.
Lithium is a lightweight metal commonly used in energy-dense and rechargeable batteries. Electric vehicles, which are needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, rely on lithium-ion batteries. Industrially, lithium is extracted from brines, rocks and clays. The ORNL innovation may help meet rising demand for lithium by making domestic sources commercially viable.
Momentum builds slowly for TVA’s post-coal plans
Written by Ben PoundsSupercomputer simulation of plasma turbulence in a spherical tokamak, which is an experimental machine designed to harness the energy of fusion. Image courtesy of Walter Guttenfelder, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Filippo Scotti, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via DOE.
Fusion research, natural gas, solar power and battery improvements at heart of TVA’s plans to wean itself off coal
OAK RIDGE — The Tennessee Valley Authority is phasing out coal and announcing developments tied to other energy sources at two plants that sit on either side of Oak Ridge.
One of the options includes a fusion test site. Scientists have long pursued fusion energy, though the technology remains in infancy and has yet to generate electricity anywhere.
The TVA coal plant on Edgemoor Road in the Claxton community in Anderson County closed Dec. 1 last year. TVA remains uncommitted to any plans for most of the land around the plant. A company recently announced, however, that it plans tests connected to fusion power in a small part of one of Bull Run’s old buildings by 2028. It will be an experiment and not generate power directly.
Meanwhile, TVA plans to retire Kingston Fossil Plant on Swan Pond Road in Harriman by the end of 2027. Its nine coal-fired units power about 818,000 homes. To replace the power generated at the plant, TVA plans to build a new complex at the Kingston plant’s site, combining natural gas, solar power and battery storage.
TVA plans to retire all its coal plants by the 2030s.
Experts and citizens plan and commiserate over TVA’s lack of public process
Written by Élan YoungTennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson speaks to community members assembled for the evening discussion during the People’s Voice on TVA’s Energy Plan. John Waterman/Appalachian Voices
A lack of public process brought together a coalition of environmental organizations
NASHVILLE — In every state except Tennessee, for-profit utilities and their regulators are required to get public input about energy-resource planning.
These Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs) provide an opportunity for a utility to demonstrate that the ratepayer money the utility spends is on the best mix of energy investments that meet this objective.
In Tennessee, however, TVA, which is the nation’s largest public power provider, has no process for engaging the public on its IRPs.
It is this lack of public process that brought a coalition of environmental organizations together to host a mock public hearing in a Nashville church last month presided by Ted Thomas, former chair of Georgia Center for Energy Solutions. Their goal was to call attention to the fact that TVA acts more like a corporation or a self-regulated monopoly than as a public utility. The groups say that lack of public involvement in the process harms Tennesseeans across the board.
TVA’s Bull Run coal plant goes dark in Oak Ridge. More fossils to follow?
Written by Ben PoundsBull Run Fossil Plant in Anderson County, Tennessee, is officially offline as of Dec. 1, 2023, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Abigail Baxter/Hellbender Press
TVA retires coal-fired plant; just four more to go
OAK RIDGE — The Tennessee Valley Authority took another step toward its goal to phase out all its coal plants by 2035.
TVA officially announced Bull Run Fossil Plant, at 1265 Edgemoor Road in Anderson County’s Claxton community, closed on Friday, Dec. 1. The TVA board decided to close the plant four years earlier on Feb. 14, 2019. Now the utility says it plans to retire all of its coal plants by 2035. The utility has cited the environment and efficiency as reasons for closing the plants. TVA plans to create solar and natural gas plants to replace the power formerly generated by coal. TVA has not made final plans for the Bull Run site.
“It’s not an easy decision to retire a plant, but it’s one we must make to secure a reliable and cleaner energy future as our generation portfolio and load shapes change,” Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of power operations, said in a press release.
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‘Save Money, Save Energy’ Expo — at Ijams this Sunday
Explore how to reduce your monthly power bill and increase the health and comfort of your home.
Federal and local funding opportunities available at all income levels
KNOXVILLE — As the weather turns colder, many Knoxvillians start to worry about home heating bills. Fortunately, energy efficiency incentives and funding programs are available to Knoxvillians of all income levels through federal tax credits and rebates. Free local funding is available for qualifying customers of KUB through the “Home Uplift” program. Many Knoxvillians are unaware of these opportunities or unsure of how to access the funding programs.
Family-friendly Home Energy Expo
The local organizations that cooperate with small local businesses in the Save Money, Save Energy program and the expo and workshop at Ijams are the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development (SEEED), Sierra Club – Harvey Broome Group, Three3 (pronounced three cube) and Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light (TIPL).
Home Energy Expo at Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920 — Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Save Money, Save Energy workshop starts at 2:30 p.m. (RSVP recommended to secure a seat)
Join SACE for a Clean Energy Generation webinar on Wed, Oct. 25 at 1:30 PM
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy invites people to join the “Clean Energy Generation.”
We’re gaining momentum as a movement that is rising to one of the greatest challenges of our time: the climate crisis. We’re pushing for new policies and practices and taking action, no matter how small — because it takes small ripples from people at all levels of engagement to create a tsunami of change.
At the second Clean Energy Generation webinar, SACE staff, including Executive Director, Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Climate Advocacy Director Chris Carnevale, and Climate Advocacy Coordinator Cary Ritzler, will talk about what the “Clean Energy Generation” is and how you can play a role, no matter your age, abilities, income or zip code.
SACE’s Executive Director will also share the ways he is taking clean energy action in his home, and how you don’t have to be an expert to connect with your community and make meaningful change: learning more is a good place to start. We’ll also show how small groups of neighbors, students and friends are coming together to accomplish specific climate-actions goals. And we’ll have time on the webinar to answer your questions.
Can’t make it? Register anyway and we’ll send you the recording plus a few follow-up resources.
The Clean Energy Generation is motivated by what our daily lives, communities, country, and planet will look like when clean energy replaces decades of dirty pollution from fossil fuels. We are working together for communities powered by clean energy with good jobs, clean air and water, clean transportation, a stable climate and affordable bills, where all of us can thrive.
Solar for All: An opportunity to expand alternative-energy access
Written by Southern Environmental Law CenterThe historic federal climate legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act passed last summer. The $7 billion program will help fund rooftop solar projects benefiting communities with lower incomes and provide workforce development enabling millions of households’ access to affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy. Southern Environmental Law Center
A competitive grant program to bring solar power to people with limited incomes has found huge demand in the South
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as other tribal governments, municipalities and nonprofits submitted applications for Solar for All, a new program designed to expand solar access.
Part of the historic federal climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act passed last summer, the $7 billion program will fund rooftop solar projects benefiting communities with lower incomes and provide workforce development enabling millions of households’ access to affordable, resilient and clean solar energy and related jobs. These funds have the potential to double the number of rooftop solar customers with 100 percent of cost saving solar, benefiting customers that would not otherwise be able to access solar.
“This is a generational opportunity to enable low-income households in the South to access affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy,” Thompson said.
Inflation Reduction Act charges positive clean-energy results in Southeast
Electric car recharging. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons
KNOXVILLE — This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant clean energy and climate action legislation in U.S. history, and our region is already seeing massive economic benefits. Consider this: just one year into the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), four Southeastern states rank in the top 10 nationally for new clean energy investments:
- Georgia: $18.83 billion with 22 new major clean energy projects, the 2nd most in the nation
- South Carolina: $11.71 billion with 20 new major clean energy projects,
the 3rd most in the nation - Tennessee: $5.76 billion with 13 new major clean energy projects, the 6th most in the nation
- North Carolina: $9.61 billion with 9 new major clean energy projects, the 10th most in the nation
- Florida: $503 million with 5 new major clean energy projects
The Southeast will also be a leading hub for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing with more than 60,000 announced jobs, according to SACE's fourth annual Transportation Electrification in the Southeast report, produced with Atlas Public Policy, which will be published next Wednesday, September 6. The report also shows that Georgia leads all states in the country for announced EV manufacturing jobs. Join us for the webinar on September 6 at 11:00 a.m. ET to hear more highlights of the report.
While the economic growth numbers from the first year of the IRA are encouraging, the real impacts will be measured by the people and communities that will benefit from the transition to clean energy.
— Southern Alliance for Clean Energy