Kingston Springs may join opposition to TVA power plant

Kingston Springs is considering joining other localities in formally opposing the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) plans to build a power plant in Cheatham County.

TVA wants to build a natural gas-fired combustion turbine plant and a battery energy storage system on 285 acres of agriculturally zoned land near Ashland City that it acquired in 2020.

The plant would generate around 900 megawatts of electricity. The electricity would replace part of the generation capacity lost when TVA retires a coal-fired unit at the Cumberland Fossil Plant in 2028. TVA says the battery storage plant would provide more grid stability as it integrates more solar energy into its power system.

The new power plant also would require the construction of a 12-mile natural gas pipeline and off-site electric power lines.

Many Cheatham County residents strongly oppose the plant, saying it would harm the local environment and reduce property values for landowners who live along the pipeline route. They persuaded both the Cheatham County Commission and the Ashland City Council to pass resolutions opposing the project last month.

Now Kingston Springs Mayor Tony Gross wants the Kingston Springs Board of Commissioners to follow suit.

“There’s a pretty united front across the county” against the TVA power plant, Gross told commissioners at their July meeting.

He plans to bring up a resolution opposing the project at the commission’s Aug. 17 meeting.

In draft form, the resolution states that “it is believed upon information provided that this plant, as proposed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, will be for the generation of power not for the citizens and businesses of Cheatham County, but for other areas of Middle Tennessee, and may have a negative impact on the environment in Cheatham County as well as potential loss of property, and diminished property values.”

“The Board of Commissioners of the Town of Kingston Springs is opposed to this project for reasons stated above and is concerned about irreparable harm to our community related to the potential negative impacts on botany, wildlife and aquatics, threatened and endangered species, area wetlands, local cultural resources, emergency planning, floodplains, geology and groundwater, land use, noise and vibration, soil erosion and surface water disturbance, area transportation infrastructure, and associated project waste," the draft resolution states.

The TVA is conducting an environmental impact statement on the project and says it will release a draft version for public comment sometime next year.