Kingston Steam Plant is located at the base of a peninsula formed by the Clinch and Emory River embayments of Watts Bar Lake about 2.7 miles above the confluence of the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers. The plant derives its name from Kingston, a small town of colorful history lying two miles to the south, which employs the distinction of being the capital of the State of Tennessee for one day, September 21, 1807.

The Watts Bar Steam Plant is the first fuel-burning electric power plant constructed by the TVA. The first two of its four 60,000-kilowatt generating units were placed in commercial operation in February and March 1942 at a time when the products of industry and agriculture in the valley region were critical items in the war effort. These units increased the continuous energy capacity of the TVA system to approximately 830,000 kilowatts and the system peak to about 1,100,000 kilowatts. The further addition of Cherokee, Chatuge, and Nottely Dams and the down-river units raised the continuous energy of the system to 960,000 kilowatts and the peak capability to about 1,300,000 kilowatts by the fall of 1942. The third Watts Bar Steam Plant unit began operation in February 1943 and the fourth in April 1945 - important factors in keeping ahead of system demands.