A series of public hearings starts today to determine how the state should use funds from an $11.2 million settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority. The agreement came earlier this year after the state claimed coal-fired TVA plants in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee sent polluted air into North Carolina. State Energy Office spokesman Seth Effron says the settlement calls for the money to go toward clean energy projects.
Seth Effron: "It's a pretty broad mandate to direct the spending, so we're going to be looking to folks in those areas to get ideas about what the energy related needs are for the area in those counties that are served or are in the TVA region."
TVA also must clean up its coal-fired plants as part of the settlement. The utility provides power to about 33,000 customers in western North Carolina. This week’s hearings start tonight in Murphy.