The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia

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Friday, 13 September 2024 13:40

Join the Rally for the Valley 2.0

TVA protest

NASHVILLE — Join the rescheduled Rally for the Valley on Sept. 21 2024 at Centennial Park for a day filled with fun, music, learning and community spirit.

The rally, organized by the Clean Up TVA Coalition, which includes Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other allies, calls on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to stop its gas buildout and lead the way to a fossil-free future.

The decisions in front of TVA are significant. They will impact the health and safety of our communities, how much we pay to keep the lights on, and whether we meet our climate targets and achieve energy justice. We are mobilizing with communities from across Tennessee to urge TVA leaders to change course before its too late. 

Are you in? Register today!

Published in Event Archive

TVA protestA protestor holds a sign during a 2021 demonstration against TVA’s plans for continued fossil fuel use outside the federal utility’s headquarters in Knoxville.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

KNOXVILLE — On Thursday, August 22, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Board of Directors will meet in Florence, Alabama to authorize a 5.25 percent electric power rate increase without any public documentation showing why the increase is needed or how those additional revenues will be spent. This rate increase amounts to approximately a staggering half-a-billion-dollar increase for Tennessee Valley ratepayers. Only in the Tennessee Valley could a major utility raise rates without public scrutiny of financial documents.

The 5.25 percent rate increase coupled with last year’s 4.5 percent electric rate increase is strategically set just below a 10 percent threshold that would trigger renegotiation of hundreds of power supply agreements with local utilities. But even with this rate increase, TVA is still racking up debt at a rate not seen in decades.

Based on documents over a year old at this point, we can only guess what is driving TVA’s current financial woes: the largest buildout of fossil gas in the country this decade. These new fossil gas pipelines and power plants aren’t cheap, and TVA’s plan to increase reliance on gas is risky. Families and businesses across the Valley will see increased bills when gas prices rise again and as these new gas power plants become obsolete in just a few short years. 

Published in News

Cheatham1 scaled 1 2048x1522 Nanette Mahler, left, and Tracy O’Neill walk along Macon Wall Road in Cheatham County, Tennessee, near the site of a proposed Tennessee Valley Authority gas power plant project. Local backlash against the proposal comes as the federal utility faces bipartisan legislation in Congress seeking to boost transparency in its planning process and scrutiny of TVA’s anemic renewable power growth compared to other utilities. Robert Zullo/States Newsroom

TVA ‘clearly a laggard’ in renewable energy

This article was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

ASHLAND CITY — When he heard about the sale, Kerry McCarver was perplexed.

In 2020, the mayor of rural Cheatham County discovered that the Tennessee Valley Authority bought about 280 acres of rolling farmland “in the middle of nowhere” in his county, which lies just west of Nashville and is home to about 42,000 people.

He asked another county official who formerly worked for the TVA, the nation’s largest public power company, to find out what it planned to do with the land.

The answer they got was “future use,” and they speculated a solar farm might be in the works.

“It’s kind of the last we thought about it,” McCarver said during an interview in his office in May. “Then a year ago last summer, TVA called here needing a place to have a public meeting.”

The authority was now proposing a 900-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant, battery storage, pipelines and other associated infrastructure for the site, which came as a shock to McCarver and many other locals who felt it was wholly inappropriate for the area. 

Published in News
 AppVoices 25th anniversary logo horiz white outline
Join Appalachian Voices and allies for a teach-in examining the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to replace coal with natural gas as its primary energy source in many locations.
 
The event is set for 6 p.m. June 12 at the Birdhouse Neighborhood Center, 804 N. 4th Ave. near the 4th and Gill neighborhood in Knoxville. Food will be served until 6:30 p.m. outdoors; attendees are asked to wear masks indoors.
 
TVA is gearing up for the largest gas buildout of any utility this decade, swapping coal for gas. This would include a new gas plant at the site of the Kingston Coal Ash Spill, and the 122-mile Ridgeline pipeline.
 
Ridgeline would be built and owned by the multibillion-dollar company Enbridge Inc., and affect state waterways in more than 400 locations.
 
The TVA Board of Directors could stop this project, and the gas buildout, in its tracks.
Published in Event Archive

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Citizens call on TVA to stop passing gas

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority in coming years plans to add both natural gas and solar plants to its portfolio to meet what it says are rising energy demands.

TVA’s Board of Directors laid out the federal utility’s plan in a meeting at Norris Middle School in May. Environmentalists at a previous hearing criticized the utility’s focus on natural gas rather than renewables or other measures. Other people, largely tied to local power providers, argued that a switch to renewable energy would be unreliable.

TVA showed a map in a press release following the meeting, showing four proposed natural gas plants and two proposed solar plants. Two of those natural gas plants would be in Tennessee while the other two are planned for Alabama and Kentucky. It stated these new plants will total 3,800 megawatts. It also spoke of its System Operations Center, set to open in fall 2024 in Georgetown to manage the utility’s grid. TVA also stated a desire to research nuclear technologies.

“Our region is experiencing growth at six times the national average, which means we must invest in our current power system and build new generation so we can continue meeting our region’s demand,” said TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash.

Several citizens criticized TVA’s focus on natural gas plants and new pipelines at the listening session May 9. Among them was Clinton resident and activist John Todd Waterman.

Published in News

Handout from TVA Listening Session Aug. 30 2022Scott Banbury with the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club said a handout provided at TVA’s Aug. 30 listening session stated recordings of the meeting were not allowed; a TVA spokesperson said recordings are, in fact, allowed. Flyer provided by Scott Banbury

Is TVA trying to gag its critics?

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

KNOXVILLE — While the Tennessee Valley Authority, a utility company that provides power to millions in Tennessee and other states, allows for public input into decisions, the process isn’t simple or transparent, say some regular attendees.

Take, for instance, a recent public listening session: representatives of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club say they were told they could not record the session despite a spokesman for TVA saying the opposite.

According to TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks, attendees are always allowed to record public meetings, provided they don’t cause a disturbance, but minutes before the session, members of the Tennessee chapter of the Sierra Club were prohibited from doing so.

Published in News

3D2A2F6C B919 4295 B244 36D48A4BF9BD 1 105 cProtestors chant and wave signs urging TVA to commit to a fossil fuel-free future during a protest in downtown Knoxville this summer. Courtesy Amy Rawe/Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Activists will demand TVA allow public comments during a protest planned for Wednesday morning outside TVA HQ in downtown Knoxville

Knoxville clean-air activists plan another protest  Wednesday outside of Tennessee Valley Authority headquarters to demand a return to public-comment periods and a commitment the huge utility won’t rely on fossil-fuel energy sources in the future.

“Public input is critical right now, while TVA is considering building new, large fossil gas power plants and pipelines, even though they would be contrary to our need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030,” said protest organizer Brady Watson of Southern Alliance for Clean EnergyStatewide Organizing for Community Empowerment is also coordinating the protest.

Published in Air

Looking for something to do after work? Want to be part of a rising movement urging TVA to move away from fossil fuels in the face of the global climate crisis? Support transparency from the largest public utility in the country?

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Appalachian Voices, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sunrise Movement, Sierra Club, and other local organizations are hosting a clean-energy rally from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today (Aug. 18) on Market Square near TVA’s headquarters in downtown Knoxville.

TVA hasn’t had a public listening session in over a year, according to rally organizers. Rally participants will demand that TVA: 

— Restore public listening and input sessions;

— Commit to 100 percent clean energy by 2030;

— Not build new fossil gas plants;

— Protect coal ash workers, and; 

— Dispose of coal ash properly with public health and safety as the utmost priority. 

The rally will feature songs from local musicians, a reading of demands for TVA, speakers discussing pressing issues for TVA and our region, and a short march around Market Square. 

Masks and social distancing are encouraged. For those unable to attend in person, a virtual option is available at Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement Facebook page

 

Published in Event Archive
News Sentinel: Biden poised to name four new TVA board members

Georgiana Vines has a good overview of the changing of the guard at TVA as Biden takes the reins on the giant public utility. 

Environmental groups are hopeful that new appointees could steer TVA toward more sustainable energy sources and put a focus on the role of power production in climate change.

Published in Feedbag