The Tennessee Valley Authority is considering shutting down another two coal-fired units in Kentucky.
TVA said Monday it is preparing an environmental assessment about whether it should install scrubbers and other pollution equipment at two units of its Shawnee Fossil Plant near Paducah, Ky., or simply close the two units.
After shuttering some or all of the John Sevier, Widows Creek, Allen and Paradise fossil plants, TVA is reviewing options for two of the nine units at Shawnee.
Units 1 and 4 at Shawnee are among 18 coal units TVA has committed to either clean up or shut down by 2018 under a pollution settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protections Agency three years ago.
The Shawnee Fossil Plant was completed in 1957 but demand for its power dropped last year when the U.S. Enrichment Corp., TVA's biggest customer, shut down its Paducah plant.
Acuity expands in Decatur, Ga.
Acuity Brands, a Georgia-based global leader in lighting solutions for indoor and outdoor applications, will invest more than $16 million to expand its operations in DeKalb and Rockdale counties over the next five years.
In Decatur, Ga., Acuity Brands will retrofit an existing 167,000-square-foot building to become its new state-of-the-art Engineering and Technology Center. In Conyers, beginning later this year and over the next several years, Acuity Brands will make significant investments in redesigning and retrofitting the four main buildings on its campus.
"Our goal with these investments is to provide our people with the best work environment possible and the tools and technologies necessary to drive our future success," said Acuity Brands CEO Vernon J. Nagel.
Acuity Brands has a corporate affiliate office for the Georgia Tech Denning Technology and Management Capstone program and works very closely with Georgia Tech students. With the establishment of its Center of Excellence office, the company seeks to further its relationship with Georgia Tech.
Browns Ferry off watch list
TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama, rated three years ago as the most troubled nuclear plant in America, is no longer on the watch list for problems by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The NRC on Monday announced that Browns Ferry was no longer receiving heightened inspection and oversight because TVA had successfully addressed all of the major safety concerns identified at the plant over the past four years.
"The Browns Ferry plant has made significant improvements in safety performance," NRC Regional Administrator Victor McCree said in a statement Monday. "Even though the plant's three units are returning to normal oversight, we will continue to monitor and inspect the implementation of their improvement plan and the overall safety culture."
The three-reactor plant is TVA's biggest power plant and its oldest nuclear power facility.