TVA Reports Another Coal Ash Spill

The Tennessee Valley Authority said a waste pond at its Widows Creek power plant in northeast Alabama has ruptured, but the spill has been contained.

[dmg]

Tsk, Tsk, what will the CEO do with his riches? Kick back and laugh at us just barely getting by and let these spills slowly take us away. Then where will his riches come from?

[You are NUTS]

I'm just wondering...What will this do to our electric bills in the future?

[jmf]

Shouldn't there be insurance just for these kind of things? We will be paying out the butt. More $$$$ and less heat. Sounds great as Kilgore sits back with his big old fat paycheck!!!I'm sure he has been missing alot of sleep!!RIGHT!!!

[arleen]

i gather that their containment for this waste is nothing more than a pond with earth embankments that are apparently not maintained. somebody in the federal level is going to have to do something, they are government owned. i know that I am very cold but can't afford to run my heat because the electric bill will be higher than my house note. we need to get petitions, get them signed by as many as possible & present them to our reps. they need to understand if they can't represent us, then we can't represent them when time to vote. I'm sure mr kilgore & other tva ceo's are warm & not worried about their bills taking the food off the table. between the fuel adjustment & rate hike, a common person can't live.
slu

[chandre]

Arleen, I feel your pain completely and agree that we should contact our reps--both state and federal--regarding this issue. As stated in a previous post, there should be some form of insurance--something that protects the TVA consumers from having to pay for TVA's careless mistakes. If TVA leaders did without their private jets to take them to work and back (moving in closer to their job as regular TVA employees are required to do...)and had to worry about paying their own electric bills from month to month, they might change their tunes. I live in an old house, myself, in which we have taken as many measures as possible to help conserve energy, including blowing insulation into the walls, sealing around doors, etc., and replacing our windows last year. We are keeping our thermostat on 67 this winter, only using a space heater in our bedroom at night, and we make a concerted effort to turn off things that we are not using, yet in a 1400 sq. ft. house, our electric bill was over $300 last month. I can't wait to see our next bill, as it will be worse due to colder weather and the holidays. As an adjunct college instructor at THREE local universities, where I am forced to teach over a full time load, and we have not seen a Tennessee Board of Regents approved raise in 10 years, something HAS to give. If TVA is government run to the point that we, as taxpayers, have to foot the bill of their screw-ups, then they should also have to answer to us (and our representatives). It is time that we all spoke up before yet another tragedy occurs for which we are left to foot the bill.

[bke]

get the petition arleen, i will sign it !!

[Lance Winslow]

chandre wrote:

Arleen, I feel your pain completely and agree that we should contact our reps--both state and federal--regarding this issue. As stated in a previous post, there should be some form of insurance--something that protects the TVA consumers from having to pay for TVA's careless mistakes. If TVA leaders did without their private jets to take them to work and back (moving in closer to their job as regular TVA employees are required to do...)and had to worry about paying their own electric bills from month to month, they might change their tunes. I live in an old house, myself, in which we have taken as many measures as possible to help conserve energy, including blowing insulation into the walls, sealing around doors, etc., and replacing our windows last year. We are keeping our thermostat on 67 this winter, only using a space heater in our bedroom at night, and we make a concerted effort to turn off things that we are not using, yet in a 1400 sq. ft. house, our electric bill was over $300 last month. I can't wait to see our next bill, as it will be worse due to colder weather and the holidays. As an adjunct college instructor at THREE local universities, where I am forced to teach over a full time load, and we have not seen a Tennessee Board of Regents approved raise in 10 years, something HAS to give. If TVA is government run to the point that we, as taxpayers, have to foot the bill of their screw-ups, then they should also have to answer to us (and our representatives). It is time that we all spoke up before yet another tragedy occurs for which we are left to foot the bill.

TVA has a choice of paying for their spills by passing along the costs to electrical rate-payers, stock and bond holders or both. Who do you think will wind up footing the bill?

[chandre]

I could pose a pretty good guess...especially with the state that our state's budget is in at the present moment. We just had a huge 12% rate hike in the fall (on top of a 6 % hike last year), one that people here in TN cannot possibly keep up with, since our wages are so far below those of many other areas in the country. More should have been done to keep such disasters from happening in the first place. When it comes to the safety of citizens and the environment in which we and our wildlife must live, top priority should be placed on higher quality preventative measures, as opposed to opting for the lowest cost means of maintaining the facilities and waiting until something does occur. Now how much money is being saved, Kilgore? TVA is far too worried about keeping Mr. Kilgore happy with ample bonuses and other perks, when they should be worried about the problems at hand, instead.

Lance Winslow wrote:

<quoted text>TVA has a choice of paying for their spills by passing along the costs to electrical rate-payers, stock and bond holders or both. Who do you think will wind up footing the bill?

[algernon sidney]

Lance Winslow wrote:

TVA has a choice of paying for their spills by passing along the costs to electrical rate-payers, stock and bond holders or both. Who do you think will wind up footing the bill?

TVA doesn't have any stockholders, it is a federal government agency.

[chandre]

Thanks, Algernon...I forgot to add that point.

algernon sidney wrote:

<quoted text>TVA doesn't have any stockholders, it is a federal government agency.

[Lance Winslow]

algernon sidney wrote:

<quoted text>TVA doesn't have any stockholders, it is a federal government agency.

They have the option to issue preferred stock to pay for the damage.

[leo from cornelia]

i wonder if former tennesse senator and veep al gore used some coal fired energy to heat and cool his tennesse home with the $30,000.00 per year energy bill?

[Restless Legs]

this is a "black ops" Pun not intended operation by people wanting to end coal use, plain and simple ..........

[watcher]

Restless Legs wrote:

this is a "black ops" Pun not intended operation by people wanting to end coal use, plain and simple ..........

al Gore will do anything to stop coal production at all cost,People if up to him we will all be burning cow manure, If the government was doing there job spills like this wouldn't happen, clean coal is very possible and cheap, i do find it funny that this happen right when Gore met with Obama, about Global warming,and a few days after we have show in Vegas and in california. What does that tell us? lol

[Restless Legs]

watcher wrote:

<quoted text>al Gore will do anything to stop coal production at all cost,People if up to him we will all be burning cow manure, If the government was doing there job spills like this wouldn't happen, clean coal is very possible and cheap, i do find it funny that this happen right when Gore met with Obama, about Global warming,and a few days after we have show in Vegas and in california. What does that tell us? lol

it was malicous, intended sabotage

[chandre]

I sincerely hope that you guys are not serious and do not expect to be taken seriously about such ridiculous speculations. This is how malicious rumors get started that sully the minds of other well meaning American citizens who read such garbage and know no better than to believe it. Do you realize how fabricated and unfounded an accusation such as this toward Gore and Obama sounds? You cannot realistically believe that Gore would EVER risk the safety of the citizens, animals, and environment in his own state to "sabotage" coal usage. Save your conspiracy theories for someone ignorant enough to fall for them. My husband has maintained the turbines, etc. at many of these coal plants and knows exactly how "business" is done there. They skimp on things that should NEVER be skimped upon just to save a dime, never mind the eventual cost to the environment or the citizens. Coal or not, facts are facts. Better measures should have been taken to ensure that such spills as these never happened, instead of TVA worrying about courting the CEO with bonuses and perks to keep him from leaving his post. Let him leave if this is the best that he can do.

Restless Legs wrote:

<quoted text>
it was malicous, intended sabotage

[TVA retiree]

TVA is no different than any other business, it has problems plus mistakes,and accidents happen. there is no way TVA planned for any of the situations in the news to happen if for no other reason than the cost to clean them up,rebuild the neighborhoods AND repair plant sources of the problems. complain to anybody you wish in the government but be very careful what you ask for since the electricity rates in the area served by TVA, even with the latest increases, are some of the lowest in the NATION. as a pseudo federal agency TVA is as lacking in up to date "infrastucture" as every other section of the government. their money is in iraq just like every other agency. as for gore and his fellow "go green" type advocates, when they finish their blackmail tactics about coal fired plants,there's a nuclear accident and nothing is left but the hydro and gas plants to produce electricity in the TVA seven state area, THEN WE REALLY WILL KNOW WHAT HIGH COST ELECTRICITY IS!! TVA is as diversified an operation as one can be by using coal,nuclear,gas,and hydro power methods to produce electricity, but there is a cost to them all in dollars,as well as effects on people and the environment. but like the fuel for our automobiles, NOBODY wants to do without electricity!!don't believe me?? think back to your last power outage and how much fun that was.

[Restless Legs]

chandre wrote:

I sincerely hope that you guys are not serious and do not expect to be taken seriously about such ridiculous speculations. This is how malicious rumors get started that sully the minds of other well meaning American citizens who read such garbage and know no better than to believe it. Do you realize how fabricated and unfounded an accusation such as this toward Gore and Obama sounds? You cannot realistically believe that Gore would EVER risk the safety of the citizens, animals, and environment in his own state to "sabotage" coal usage. Save your conspiracy theories for someone ignorant enough to fall for them. My husband has maintained the turbines, etc. at many of these coal plants and knows exactly how "business" is done there. They skimp on things that should NEVER be skimped upon just to save a dime, never mind the eventual cost to the environment or the citizens. Coal or not, facts are facts. Better measures should have been taken to ensure that such spills as these never happened, instead of TVA worrying about courting the CEO with bonuses and perks to keep him from leaving his post. Let him leave if this is the best that he can do.
<quoted text>

thanks i am glad you clearted that up, glad that it was an accident ....... I know there are no such things as conspiracy ........ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Study_o...

[algernon sidney]

Lance Winslow wrote:

They have the option to issue preferred stock to pay for the damage.

Your ignorance is impressive. TVA is a government agency. It is not possible to buy stock in a government agency. But putting reality aside for just a moment, who would buy stock issued for such a reason?

[chandre]

Good question...who would?

algernon sidney wrote:

<quoted text>Your ignorance is impressive. TVA is a government agency. It is not possible to buy stock in a government agency. But putting reality aside for just a moment, who would buy stock issued for such a reason?