Press Mention Knoxville News-Sentinel February 1, 2002
SACE Quoted
TVA ends contract with group lobbying against Clean Air Act
In this mention
The Tennessee Valley Authority ended its $185,000 contract with the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a utility industry group that lobbied against stricter Clean Air Act requirements. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy praised TVA's decision to withdraw from the lobbying effort, though noted it does not necessarily indicate a policy shift. The move comes amid EPA enforcement actions against TVA and other utilities over pollution control upgrades at aging coal-fired power plants.
While their withdrawal ... doesn't necessarily reflect a change in TVA's policy, it is a move in the right direction. We never believed TVA should use ratepayer money to undermine clean air protections
Stephen A. Smith
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Full transcript
TVA ends contract with group
lobbying against Clean Air Act
By Bill Poovey
Associated Press
CHATTANOOGA - The Tennessee Valley Authority has ended payments to a utility industry group that lobbied to weaken the Clean Air Act, a change hailed by environmentalists Thursday.
TVA ended its contract with the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council in December, utility officials said.
It had paid $185,000 to the group, which hired current national GOP Chairman Marc Racicot and former party chairman Haley Barbour to lobby against tougher air pollution requirements for power plants.
The Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said in a statement that the Bush administration is "waging a full-scale assault on the Clean Air Act," but the group commended TVA for dropping out of the lobbying efforts.
"While their withdrawal ... doesn't necessarily reflect a change in TVA's policy, it is a move in the right direction. We never believed TVA should use ratepayer money to undermine clean air protections," said Stephen Smith, a spokesman for the environmental group.
John Shipp, general manager of TVA's environmental policy and planning, said TVA ended the contract after deciding its viewpoint had been presented to the Bush administration and federal agencies.
"Our view is that we're looking for a way to get these technical analyses to the decision-makers," Shipp said. "We've gotten our message across."
In May 2001, a coalition of about a dozen power companies - including TVA, Atlanta-based Southern Company and Duke Energy of Charlotte, N.C. - joined as the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council to seek changes in an environmental policy called "new source review."
The policy requires utilities such as TVA to upgrade pollution control equipment each time an aging power plant is renovated.
Several years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that TVA and several other utilities had made substantial improvements to their power plants without obtaining permits and installing state-of-the-art pollution control equipment.
The EPA said TVA's old coal-fired plants, many built in the 1950s, should meet new plant standards for pollution.
Prior to the ruling, power plants built before the 1977 Clean Air Act were not subject to the current standards.
TVA contends it should not have to meet the policy's strict requirements because work performed on the old plants was part of routine maintenance.
Shipp said the environmental alliance makes it "appear to be a simple issue and it is not a simple issue."