Tagged: tva

MURFREESBORO, Tenn (WMOT)  --  On this sixth annual World Malaria Day, a Tennessee historian recalls the little remembered connection between the deadly disease and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Few Americans remember that malaria was once common in the U.S., or that the TVA played a crucial role in eradicating the mosquito-borne disease.

Historian Dan Klingensmith of Maryville College in East Tennessee recalls that TVA’s primary tasks were flood control and economic development, but the federal corporation was also instrumental in eliminating malaria in the American South by the early 1950s.

SPRING CITY, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority cost estimate to complete Unit 2 at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City, Tenn.,  has been revised upward to $4.5 billion.

The earlier estimate in 2007 had been $2.5 billion.

In a statement released Thursday, the federal utility blamed the increase on poor previous estimates and that reviews to support the initial estimate were not completed.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has been a longtime opponent of TVA’s construction Watt’s Bar project. Spokesman Stephen Smith calls the cost overruns “unacceptable.”

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander came out strongly Wednesday against renewing wind industry tax incentives.

On the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning, Alexander said the $27 billion worth of federal wind power subsidies would be better spent on renewable energy research, or on reducing the national debt.

During his comments, Alexander highlighted the Tennessee Valley Authority’s experience with a wind farm it built in East Tennessee.

"TVA, a few years ago, built 30 big wind turbines on top of Buffalo Mountain. The wind blows 19 percent of the time. So TVA signed a contract to spend 60 million dollars to produce six megawatts over that ten year period of time. It was a commercial failure."

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — A report shows Tennessee's solar power and related industries provide more than 6,400 jobs and are helping put people back to work.

The report by the Tennessee Solar Institute shows the state ranks 22nd in installed solar power. The group says Tennessee needs to stay aggressive to compete with other states that have growing solar sectors.

The Institute’s Director of Programs, Dr. John Sanseverino, says solar’s cost-to-benefit ratio has finally reached the tipping point.

"They're offsetting their electric bills, they're gaining some revenue through the TVA Generation Partners program; payback periods anywhere from two, three to five or seven years. So people do see it as a long term business decision."