Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell met Wednesday with Tennessee Valley Authority president William Johnson to seek continued operation of the Paradise Fossil Plant, a coal-fired generator in Muhlenberg County.
TVA is reviewing the future of the Paradise plant. McConnell said closure of the plant, which burned more than 6 million tons of Kentucky coal last year, would hurt the economy.
Most of Kentucky's federal delegation co-signed a letter to Johnson, telling him it's important that TVA maintain an "all-inclusive energy portfolio." For that reason, they urged him to keep the coal-fired plant running and continue to purchase coal mined in Kentucky.
The Drakesboro plant has about 400 full-time employees. McConnell said thousands of other jobs are dependent on the plant, including those of coal miners.
