Court rules TVA’s decision to build Kingston Gas Plant broke the law

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In a win for communities across the Tennessee Valley, a federal court ruled that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to build its massive Kingston Gas Plant had “fundamental” errors that violated federal law. The court’s order, which currently remains sealed, vacates TVA’s environmental impact statement and record of decision for the Kingston Gas Plant.

The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee comes after the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Appalachian Voices, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club, sued TVA over the unlawful decisions in 2024. The lawsuit showed that TVA failed to evaluate cleaner and cheaper alternatives to the gas plant and that the federal utility had improperly committed to spending billions of ratepayer dollars on fossil fuel infrastructure before making its decision to build the facility. The court ruled that these unlawful actions violated the federal National Environmental Policy Act.   

Environmental groups and federal agencies warned TVA years ago that its decision was flawed. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, expressed “substantial concerns” about the Kingston Gas Plant’s climate and air pollution impacts and warned that TVA’s analysis was unlawfully inadequate. The federal utility brushed aside those warnings and began building the gas plant anyway.  

In a court filing, TVA asked for permission to ignore the court’s ruling and to continue building its illegal gas plant. However, the court’s order is clear, and TVA is not above the law. 

Below are statements from the Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Voices, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club: 

“People in Kingston and across East Tennessee deserve clean air, affordable energy, and a TVA that is accountable to the public—not a utility that makes backroom decisions and expects working families to pay the price. TVA is not above the law and can’t steamroll forward with an expensive and dirty gas plant and pipeline without a full analysis of how much damage the massive Kingston gas plant will do to communities and the environment,” said Bonnie Swinford, Sierra Club’s campaign organizing strategist. 

“The court’s ruling confirms what we have been arguing for years, that the Tennessee Valley Authority illegally made a backroom deal with a fossil fuel company before it recklessly plowed ahead with its plans to build a massive methane gas plant—all while ignoring cleaner and more cost-effective alternatives,” Trey Bussey, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said. “This ruling is a win for communities in the Tennessee Valley, who deserve a voice in decisions that impact their air, climate, and monthly power bills. Now TVA must go back to the drawing board, listen to the communities it serves, and properly consider cleaner and more cost-effective power options.”

“TVA invested ratepayer money into an expensive and polluting gas plant before fully considering alternative power options that are cheaper, cleaner and more reliable. That’s a bad deal for our pocketbooks, and a bad deal for our environment and public health,” said Bri Knisley, Director of Public Power Campaigns at Appalachian Voices. “Now, the court is ordering our federal utility to follow the law in how it plans for a new power source, which should have happened from the beginning.”

“It’s outrageous that TVA thinks it’s above the law and can avoid a court ruling. Rather than spending billions on another polluting methane gas plant, TVA should invest in reducing energy costs for people in the Tennessee Valley without worsening climate change,” said Howard Crystal, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This ruling should be a wake-up call for TVA to take a fresh look at how it can move forward with cleaner, cheaper alternatives.”