Two Tennessee lawmakers are once again asking for more transparency at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at the same time the agency has the green light for an experimental nuclear project.
U.S. Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN9) and Tim Burchett (R-TN2) reintroduced legislation this week that would require the TVA to increase public input on how it meets the energy needs, which is usually a mix of fossil fuels, renewables, and some nuclear. TVA sets this mix in its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
Critics argue the public is not involved in the planning process enough and does not allow any public oversight. Cohen and Burchett’s new legislation would change this. It would require TVA to give forecasts of energy needs and sales, summaries of investments planned by TVA, analysis of fuel costs, environmental regulations, and more.
“TVA’s energy planning impacts everything from electricity bills to water and air quality, yet the public has had virtually no meaningful pathway to make their voices heard,” Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign manager Amy Kelly, said in a statement. “Representatives Cohen and Burchett’s act would make TVA more transparent and accountable at a time when the communities of the Tennessee Valley are struggling under rising energy bills.
The new law would also create a new Office of Public Participation to engage with the public through direct outreach and education. It would act a TVA liaison and facilitate public engagement in the IRP process.
“For too long, TVA has operated behind closed doors to hide from the public,” Burchett said in a statement. “The establishment of an Office of Public Participation will help restore trust in the TVA, and will give East Tennesseans an opportunity to offer input in their decisions.”
Cohen said the bill would require the TVA to take into consideration the views of ratepayers, stakeholders, and subject-matter experts. He said this is “commonplace for other major private and public utilities.”
“TVA needs outside guidance to meet the changing needs of utility customers as it addresses resiliency and other foreseeable disruptions to its planning,” Cohen said in a statement.
Cohen and Burchett have sought transparency from the TVA before. In 2023, they co-sponsored a bill to make TVA salary information public for employees who make some of its largest paychecks.
The new legislation for input on energy planning comes in the same week TVA got the go-ahead from the feds for a program that could make nuclear power cheaper, quicker, and more local.
A nuclear future
On Tuesday, TVA announced it had been selected for a $400 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to start work on the nation’s first Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR). The facility is set to be built at TVA’s Clinch River nuclear site in East Tennessee.
TVA is the first utility in the U.S. to have a construction permit for an SMR under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Neither the project nor the construction application have been approved. The project could serve as a national model for how to deploy these facilities.
These reactor facilities are smaller and pre-built in a factory, not onsite. They are also faster to bring onboard than a traditional nuclear reactor site.
TVA is looking to these in a moment of a power crunch as technology pushes demand for electricity.
“TVA is once again answering our nation’s call,” Don Moul, TVA president and CEO, said in a statement. “As AI, data centers, and digital infrastructure drive unprecedented energy demand, we’re building our nation’s nuclear energy foundation right here in the Tennessee Valley.
“This is about more than innovation, it’s about creating lasting opportunity, lowering energy costs, and securing a better tomorrow for American families today.”
But environmental groups have said small reactors won’t come on fast enough to efficiently battle climate change, are way too expensive even with government subsidies, and won’t save money for ratepayers. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) called them a “a risky bet for ratepayers.“
”While the technology sounds promising, the evidence suggests these reactors will follow the same pattern of massive cost overruns and delays that have plagued nuclear projects for decades,” reads a blog post from SACE executive director Stephen A. Smith. “Before committing billions of ratepayer dollars to these unproven technologies, utilities and regulators should carefully consider the overwhelming evidence that SMRs … are unlikely to deliver on their promises of affordable, timely carbon-free power.”