Private Equity Owns America's Deadliest Coal Plant, And It's Affecting Your Air Quality | Bonus Episode
The Moment LIVE! Politics & Culture, ExplainedShow Notes
This is a special bonus episode of The Moment LIVE, made possible by Ground Crew by TED Countdown.
The Gavin coal plant in Cheshire, Ohio is private equity backed, one of the largest coal plants in the United States, and according to a 2023 Sierra Club analysis, the deadliest coal plant in the country — responsible for over 200 deaths per year, with air quality impacts reaching as far as New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida. Most people have never heard of it.
Meredith and Rebecca break down what private equity actually is, how it ended up owning a coal plant in a town of 120 people, and why you are almost certainly being affected by the Gavin plant without knowing it. Then, Neil Waggoner, Beyond Coal campaign manager for the Sierra Club, joins to explain what happened to Cheshire after AEP bought the town for $20 million rather than address its pollution, what private equity's ownership means for the plant's future, the data centers now being proposed nearby, and what it would actually take to transition this community to clean energy.
The Moment LIVE is hosted by Meredith Lynch and Rebecca Sananès. New episodes stream LIVE Tuesday and Friday, available the next day where you get your podcasts. Subscribe so you never miss a moment.
Follow The Moment LIVE
YouTube
Substack
TikTok
00:00 Private Equity Owns America's Deadliest Coal Plant: A Special Bonus Episode of The Moment LIVE
02:08 What Is Private Equity? Leveraged Buyouts and the Cost-Cutting Playbook Explained
06:47 Private Equity in Healthcare: What Happened to Steward Health Care
11:36 Private Equity & Fossil Fuels: How the Gavin Coal Plant Got Here
16:52 Neil Waggoner Joins: Sierra Club on Cheshire, Ohio & the Gavin Plant
21:05 The History of Cheshire, Ohio: AEP Bought the Town for $20 Million
26:23 Coal Ash, Accountability & What the Community Is Living With
32:42 AI Data Centers Near Gavin & the Future of Energy in Ohio
37:45 Political Neglect, Ohio's Missing Lawmakers & Who's Fighting for Cheshire
42:21 What Needs to Happen Next: Final Thoughts on Gavin & Private Equity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Moment LIVE! Politics & Culture, Explained
Ohio’s governor’s race just got ugly. Vivek Ramaswamy spent $4 million on an attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, a woman who sided with Acton’s abusive stepfather when CPS removed her from the home at age 12. Some Republicans are calling it out, but Trump posted on Truth Social in support. Is this backfire actually an October surprise for Acton?
France is experiencing its worst civil unrest in decades: 2,400 arrests, curfews across Paris, and protests that started with Gen Z students demanding relief from overcrowded schools before workers joined over fuel costs and housing. Rebecca and Meredith break down what’s driving it and why the same kind of mass mobilization looks so different in the US.
Selma Blair has been charged with federal assault after allegedly punching and biting two Delta flight attendants on a flight to New York, and now the FBI is involved. Her lawyer is blaming a missed MS medication dose, but this isn’t her first time biting people. Katie Zacharia lasted less than a week as White House press secretary before being pushed out, and it’s not hard to see why. It emerged she sat for the California Bar, never passed, and has no law license anywhere in the US, despite calling herself an attorney for over a decade. The office is in crisis after it emerged she sat for the California Bar, never passed, and has no law license anywhere in the US, despite calling herself an attorney for over a decade.
Shane Gillis used his SNL monologue to demean women at the gym, and the backlash (then the threats) came fast. Rebecca and Meredith break down why the joke was lazy and dangerous, why SNL’s silence matters, and what it says about who gets to say what on live television in 2026.
The Cornell case takes yet another disturbing turn. Jane Doe’s family was swatted at home after a false report, and threatening messages continue to flood in from people claiming to know the accused. Meredith and guest co-host Jasmine Ellis break down the real cost of coming forward, Megyn Kelly’s hypocrisy, and the debate over whether Letitia James should stay on as special prosecutor.