DRAKESBORO, Ky. (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority has shut down its last coal-fired unit at a western Kentucky power plant.

Paradise Fossil Plant's Unit 3 began operating in 1970 with a generating capacity of 1,080 megawatts. On Monday, the unit was separated from the power grid after 50 years of operation. It was the last unit burning coal at the massive power plant. TVA has built a combined-cycle plant that burns natural gas at the Paradise site.

TVA's Board of Directors voted in 2019 to retire the unit. The other two coal-fired units at Paradise were retired in 2017.

TVA employees at Paradise are relocating to other TVA jobs or retiring. Some will remain at the site over the next two years as a transition team.