Cumberland Steam Plant
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Cumberland Steam Plant is an operating power station of at least 2600-megawatts (MW) in Cumberland City, Stewart, Tennessee, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Cumberland Combined Cycle Plant, Cumberland Fossil Plant.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Steam Plant | Cumberland City, Stewart, Tennessee, United States | 36.389947, -87.651636 (exact)[1] |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- CC1, CC2, Unit 1, Unit 2: 36.389947, -87.651636
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Equipment | Emergency/Backup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC1 | Construction[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][11] | fossil gas: natural gas[9][8][10] | 777.8[2][10][11][9] | combined cycle[2][10][11][9] | no[12] | 2026 (planned)[2][3][4][9][10][13][11][11] | not found | no |
| CC2 | Construction[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][14][10][11] | fossil gas: natural gas[9][8][10] | 777.8[2][10][11][9] | combined cycle[2][10][11][9] | no[12] | 2029 (planned)[3][7][11][11][11] | not found | no |
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: bituminous[15] | 1300 | supercritical | – | 1973 | – | no |
| Unit 2 | Operating | coal: bituminous[15] | 1300 | supercritical | – | 1973 | – | no |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| CC1 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%][1] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| CC2 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%][1] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 1 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%][1] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%][1] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): domestic
Impacts
Potential emissions and details on the project's status and permit applications can be viewed on Oil and Gas Watch page here.
The Oil and Gas Watch database, created by Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), is a free, public-facing tool designed to track the rapid expansion of fossil fuel and petrochemical infrastructure in the United States. Oil and Gas Watch maps new and expanding oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure projects across the country and monitors each project’s construction status so the public can stay informed about major oil and gas developments being proposed in their communities. We track key environmental approvals companies must obtain before starting construction or operations and provide access to thousands of government records and permits unearthed by our analysts.
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Background
The Cumberland power station has two coal-fired generating units and "net dependable generating capacity" of approximately 2,530 megawatts. TVA states that "the plant consumes some 7,200 tons of coal a day." Construction of the Cumberland power station commenced in 1968 and was commissioned in 1973. According to the TVA the "plant consumes about 20,000 tons of coal a day."[16]
In January 2023, rolling blackouts were caused by two pressure sensors at the Cumberland Steam Plant freezing in sub-zero temperatures. The trip caused an automatic shut off, and some residents were left without power for a full day.[17]
In April 2021, TVA President Jeff Lyash said that he expect TVA to shut down Cumberland Steam Plant, Gallatin Fossil Plant, Kingston Fossil Plant and Shawnee Fossil Plant by 2035 without a detailed schedule.[18]
In February 2026, TVA announced plans to keep coal units at the Cumberland Steam Plant operating past their previously scheduled retirement of 2028.[19][20] TVA’s board of directors, which included several members appointed by President Trump, reportedly voted unanimously to keep Cumberland Steam Plant and the Kingston Fossil Plant open. The utility’s Chief Financial Officer said a “significant change in the regulatory outlook” for coal had created “both the opportunity and the need” for TVA to revisit its previous coal retirement plans.[21]
In June 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) allocated US$46.3 million under the Defense Production Act for a “coal revitalization” project at Cumberland Steam Plant. According to the DOE, the project was expected to “restore reliability, enhance efficiency, and extend the operational life” of the coal units at the plant.[22]
In September 2026, the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices sued TVA over its continued operation of the Cumberland coal plant and the newly built gas plant originally intended to replace it. The groups reportedly argued that TVA began operating the gas plant without the required clean air permit.[23]
Cumberland Combined Cycle Plant
In January 2023, following two years of environmental review, the Tennessee Valley Authority formally announced that the power station's coal-fired units would be replaced by gas: Unit 1 would be retired and replaced with a 1,450-MW combined-cycle natural gas plant by 2026, and the second unit would be retired by 2028. TVA has not yet determined how it will replace the second unit.[24][25]
In May 2023, TVA announced that it is considering construction of a new gas-fired power plant and battery energy storage system in Cheatham County on 286 acres of TVA-owned land northwest of Nashville, TN. The Cheatham County Generation Site would generate approximately 900 MW and replace generation capacity for a portion of the Cumberland Steam Plant Unit 2 planned for retirement by the end of 2028. According to TVA, addition of the proposed 400-MW battery storage system could also help maintain grid stability and reliability as intermittent renewable generation is added to the system.[26][27]
According to reporting from January 2024, the TVA said it might delay closure of the power station if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not promptly approve a proposed pipeline for a replacement of the gas-fired unit.[28] FERC approved the project the same month.[29]
In April 2024, the plant was preparing for the delivery of the equipment for the new combined-cycle unit. TVA is investing USD 2.1 billion in the project, including the construction of a new 500 kV switchyard at the Cumberland site. Up to 1,000 people will be working on the project in the next two years.[30]
In January 2025, TVA reported that some major components for the plant had been set on their final foundations. After about eight hours of work, crews at Cumberland had unloaded the 824-ton combustion turbine and gas turbine generator from a barge along the Cumberland River. Once this project is complete in 2026, it will provide power to over 800,000 homes. In April 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Court ruled the 32-mile long gas pipeline that will run through Stewart, Houston and Dickson counties, to the TVA plant in Cumberland City can continue.[31]
Emissions Data
- 2024 Gross Load (MWh): 10,296,584[32]
- 2024 SO2 Mass (short tons): 4,600[32]
- 2024 CO2 Mass (short tons): 10,826,807[32]
- 2024 NOx Mass (short tons): 4,156[32]
- 2023 Mercury emissions (Hg, lb): 28.8[33][34]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Cumberland Steam Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[35] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[36]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Cumberland Steam Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 57 | $420,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 83 | $9,100,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 940 | $49,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 41 | $950,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 34 | $15,000,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 56 | $21,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal waste
According to reporting from May 2026, TVA, the largest public utility in the U.S., had distributed a 35-page booklet that claimed “coal ash is not hazardous” and that many of the elements found in coal ash were also present in “rocks and soil.” The booklet did not identify the author or publisher, but the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy reportedly said that TVA staff distributed it at an April 15 public meeting to discuss the coal ash remediation plan for the Cumberland plant. Avner Vengosh, from Duke University and an author of peer-reviewed academic papers on coal ash contamination, described the booklet as “unbelievable” and said “I’m not sure why they’re having this campaign, but basically everything there is lies.”[37]
2010 study on Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010, a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Tennessee, along with 33 other states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that was not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites.[38][39] The report mentioned Tennessee's Cumberland Steam Plant, Gallatin Fossil Plant and Johnsonville Fossil Plant as three sites that had groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.[39]
2011 tests find groundwater contamination
In July 2011, tests found coal ash contamination in the groundwater of all but one of the 10 Tennessee Valley Authority plants assessed, including two sites where investigators say the pollution could pose a health hazard. The inspector general’s assessment pointed in particular to the contamination at the Gallatin Fossil Plant and Cumberland Steam Plant in Tennessee. Excessive levels of arsenic and other toxic metals from coal ash were detected at Cumberland, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, while beryllium, cadmium and nickel were discovered at Gallatin.
In addition, the inspector general said that TVA officials for more than 10 years have found indications that toxic metals could be leaking from a coal ash pond at the authority’s Allen Fossil Plant. Arsenic above currently allowable levels was found repeatedly in a monitoring well at the site, which lies above a deep, high-quality aquifer that supplies drinking water to Memphis and nearby areas.
A TVA spokeswoman told the newspaper in an email that, at the time of the testing at Allen, the contamination levels were within limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. However, the inspector general’s report said that arsenic levels exceeded a tighter standard later adopted by the EPA.[40]
"High Hazard" Surface Impoundment
In July 2009, TVA reclassified the surface impoundment at Cumberland as having High Hazard Potential. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not assess of the likelihood of such an event. TVA had originally ranked all of its sites as "low" risk, but revised those rankings two weeks after the EPA released its list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps.[41]
Citizen groups
- LEAF - Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship
- Save Our Cumberland Mountains
- Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network
- United Mountain Defense
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20240624234132/https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/coal/cumberland-fossil-plant. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 https://web.archive.org/web/20221226070552/https://cleanenergy.org/blog/tva-plans-to-replace-cumberland-coal-plant-with-another-fossil-fuel. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://clarksvillenow.com/local/tva-decides-to-keep-coal-fired-plant-running-alongside-new-gas-plant-near-clarksville/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.stewartcountystandard.com/articles/featured-stories/court-rules-gas-pipeline-can-move-forward/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.facebook.com/TVA/videos/big-progress-is-happening-in-middle-tennessee-%EF%B8%8Four-1450-megawatt-cumberland-comb/2372419526561100/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.turbomachinerymag.com/view/tva-s-grid-transformation-pairs-solar-and-natural-gas-to-phase-out-coal.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tva_more-megawatts-are-on-the-way-in-middle-tennessee-activity-7380981421798031360-7ykn/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20221118130335/https://wpln.org/post/last-call-tva-wants-input-on-stewart-county-fossil-fuel-plant/. Archived from the original on 2022-11-18.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 https://web.archive.org/web/20230131142545/https://www.tva.com/newsroom/articles/tva-approves-retirement-of-cumberland-replacement-of-one-unit-with-natural-gas. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 https://web.archive.org/web/20240624234042/https://www.tva.com/newsroom/press-releases/tva-special-delivery-closes-cumberland-boat-ramp. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 https://web.archive.org/web/20230509053328/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/. Archived from the original on 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2026-04-16.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 "U.S. Energy Information Administration, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (April 2022)". Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ↑ https://www.tva.com/news-media/releases/tva-s-3-770-megawatt-construction-build-positions-valley-for-long-term-growth.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/DHBrFtrT7p9/?hl=en.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://www.gem.wiki/Coal_source_methodology_for_the_Global_Coal_Plant_Tracker.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Tennessee Valley Authority, "Cumberland Fossil Plant", Tennessee Valley Authority website, accessed June 2008.
- ↑ "TVA, NES blame frozen pressure sensors, substation fire for rolling blackouts and prolonged outages", News Channel 5, January 12, 2023.
- ↑ "TVA announces plans to end coal-fired generation by 2035" IEEFA.org, April 29, 2021
- ↑ “Tennessee Valley Authority goes back on commitment to retire dirty coal plants,” Southern Environmental Law Center, February 10, 2026
- ↑ “Continued Operation of the Cumberland Fossil Plant Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement,” Tennessee Valley Authority, February 2026
- ↑ “TVA board, remade by Trump, votes to keep coal plants open,” Utility Dive, February 12, 2026
- ↑ “Defense Production Act Title III Project Selections: Coal Fleet Projects and West Gateway Terminal,” U.S. Department of Energy, archived June 5, 2026
- ↑ “TVA sued for violating federal Clean Air Act at its Cumberland Fossil Plant,” Appalachian Voices, September 10, 2026
- ↑ "TVA finalizes plan to transition Cumberland coal plant to natural gas" The Tennessean, January 10, 2023
- ↑ "TVA Approves Retirement of Cumberland, Replacement of One Unit With Natural Gas". TVA. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "TVA Seeks Public Comments on Scoping for Proposed Generation Projects". TVA. May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Cheatham County Proposed Generation Project". TVA. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "TVA may delay 2,470-MW coal plant shutdown over FERC pipeline inaction," Utility Dive, January 4, 2024
- ↑ "FERC approves gas pipeline needed for TVA plan to shutter 2.5-GW coal-fired power plant". www.utilitydive.com. January 24, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "TVA Special Delivery Closes Cumberland Boat Ramp". TVA. April 9, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Court Rules Gas Pipeline Can Move Forward". www.stewartcountystandard.com. April 29, 2025. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 EIA (2024). "Clean Air Markets Program Data (CAMD)". Retrieved 2025-02-20.
- ↑ Clean Air and Power Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (February 2024). "Annual data 2022 vs. 2023". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ Toxics Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (October 2024). "2023 Basic Plus Data". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- ↑ “The Tennessee Valley Authority Produced a Booklet Downplaying Coal Ash Risks. Top Researchers Call it ‘Dishonest.’,” Inside Climate News, May 15, 2026
- ↑ "Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination," Renee Schoff, McClatchy Newspapers, August 27, 2010
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 "IN HARM’S WAY: Lack Of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans And Their Environment," Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice and Sierra Club, August 26, 2010
- ↑ "Toxic Metals from Coal Ash Found in Groundwater at TVA Power Plants" Fair Warning, July 26, 2011.
- ↑ Coal waste
Articles and Resources
References
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
