The Tennessee Valley Authority will retire eight coal-burning generating stations at three locations in Alabama and Kentucky, a decision that deals another blow to the coal industry, which is shrinking under more stringent environmental regulations and struggling to adjust to changing fuel prices. The TVA’s power-generation overhaul is intended to save the utility money and sharply reduce its coal use. Across the U.S., utilities are shuttering coal-fired power plants, but the trend is hitting the mining industry hardest in the Central Appalachian states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Coal is costlier there than in other parts of the U.S., and it’s becoming more labor-intensive to extract because mining companies are being forced to tap coal seams deeper in the earth. Forty years ago, the TVA got more than 80% of its power from coal. Today coal accounts for 38%, a number that is dropping fast as a […]