Gas turbine at TVA’s Gallatin plant
The federal government has ramped up pressure on the Tennessee Valley Authority following controversial executive decisions to replace two coal-fired power plants with natural gas.
Technically a creature of the White House, the TVA has spent the past 18 months rebuffing repeated attempts by D.C. to regulate its post-coal direction. Members of Congress and Environmental Protection Agency administrators have raised the alarm on TVA CEO Jeff Lyash, who has so far ignored their strongly worded letters and proceeded toward a massive natural gas buildout defining the utility’s future. Critics, including the EPA, say competent leadership could have made the TVA a global leader in renewable energy; instead, 10 million customers will spend the coming decades paying more for a less reliable power grid that defies national carbon-reduction goals due to flawed corporate decision-making.
Carbon-rich coal powered the South for more than two centuries. This decade, its supremacy has begun to end: Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County and Cumberland Fossil Plant in Cumberland City will retire obsolete coal-fired units in phases over the next four years, forcing the TVA to reassess its energy mix. The inflection point briefly looked like an opening for clean energy expansion. Instead, it became a pathway to natural gas.
“As the country’s largest public power producer, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) should be leading the nation’s transition to a clean, renewable energy future, not dragging its feet,” opens an Aug. 16 letter to Lyash and TVA board chair William Kilbride. “We write to urge you to phase out fossil fuels and immediately chart a path to 100-percent clean energy by 2035 — one that prioritizes safety, affordability, resilience, and justice.”
Five senators and five members of the U.S. House penned the letter to Kilbride and Lyash a week before a tense August board meeting. Buried in budget documents passed by the eight-member board that day lay a critical clause expanding Lyash’s executive power to make final decisions on the future of TVA power plants. Such decision-making power had been reclaimed by the board at its previous meeting three months earlier. Multiple TVA critics have suggested that members were hoodwinked. The budget text wasn’t made public for another three months.
“The public is left wondering who has authority to make decisions related to TVA power generation, what authority the Board members have, and why TVA and the Board continue to ignore EPA’s concerns,” reads a report published April 3 by advocacy group Appalachian Voices. “If the TVA board is unwilling to use its authority and take responsibility to ensure appropriate use of ratepayer funding and to ensure least-cost resource planning, the White House should replace the Board members.”
In January 2023, the TVA issued its “Record of Decision” informing the federal government of its plan to replace Cumberland City coal with natural gas. Throughout the Cumberland City decision-making process, the EPA had raised concerns about flawed analysis, outdated assumptions and unknown methodology that resulted in the TVA’s apparent bias toward gas. The same process played out at Kingston, where regional EPA administrator Jeaneanne Gettle formally requested that the TVA redo its “inadequate” analysis in a March 25 letter. A week later, the TVA announced it would adopt 16 new gas-powered combustion turbines at Kingston. Fossil fuel giants Kinder Morgan and Enbridge have already engaged the TVA to expand lucrative gas pipelines across Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee to supply the new units at Cumberland and Kingston.
Environmental advocates and watchdog politicians flagged March as the next possible intervention into the TVA’s path toward gas. The utility’s Integrated Resource Plan — the TVA’s internal guiding document — was due for its five-year update. On March 21, the agency punted with little explanation.
“After thoughtful consideration, TVA leaders have decided to delay publication of the agency’s Draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and accompanying Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) at this time,” reads an email sent by the TVA. “We believe that this additional time will strengthen our Draft IRP by allowing for the potential evaluation of additional strategies, scenarios or sensitivities that may be appropriate to consider.”
With carbon emissions at an existential tipping point, America’s flagship utility doubling down on fossil fuels is not a good look. The sudden delay may signal soul-searching inside the TVA or, finally, effective pressure on an agency that continues to elude public accountability.
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