Labor unions, environmental advocates and others have joined together to oppose to what they said are the Trump administration's initial steps to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The TVA board of directors held an Aug. 20 listening session, during which more than 40 speakers emphasized the detrimental effects privatization could cause, and they advocated to keep the utility in public hands.
Speakers offered support for the TVA because of its value to the region's economy, opportunities for local input in the energy system, the low cost and reliability of public power, and TVA's stewardship of public lands and waterways, among other issues.
In a mid-July statement, 10 regional environmental groups warned about possible efforts by the Trump administration to "replace the Tennessee Valley Authority's CEO with pro-privatization leadership," referring to such efforts as "a reckless corporate power grab."
The Trump administration on July 14 directed the TVA board to request the resignation of President and CEO Don Moul. The same day, TVA Chairman Bill Renick sent a letter to McKenna Skeeters, special assistant to the president for personnel, and said the board "cannot request Mr. Moul's resignation. ... Mr. Moul has done nothing in the past 105 days to indicate that he is unfit to fill the role of CEO."
Renick said Moul's leadership as CEO has thus far been "the same direction established by President [Donald] Trump and his administration. ... Therefore, there is no principled reason to request his resignation, and the White House [Presidential Personnel Office] has provided no substantive reason to terminate Mr. Moul.
"Accordingly, we cannot ask Mr. Moul to resign when doing so is contrary to our understanding of the needs of TVA and the nation, and forcing TVA to make another change at CEO would simply cause additional chaos and unpredictability at a time when our focus should be on responding to the energy emergency."
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Aug. 21.
The TVA named Moul its CEO effective April 9, following the previously announced retirement of Jeff Lyash.
'People first, not profits'
Speakers at the Aug. 20 listening session cautioned that privatization could increase energy costs for the TVA's 10 million customers.
"The Tennessee Valley Authority belongs to the people it serves — not to billionaires' interests," said Bonnie Swinford, strategist for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "If TVA is sold to corporate bidders, private companies will use our electricity bills to cover their expenses and generate profit for their shareholders."
The TVA has a history of building dams and nuclear plants, managing the Tennessee River for hydropower production and recreation, modernizing transmission and keeping rates "among the lowest in the country for nearly a century, all without taking a dime from the American taxpayer," said Christopher O'Keefe, president of the Tennessee Building and Construction Trades Council. The TVA self-funds its operations through about $12 billion in annual revenue.
Speakers acknowledged that the TVA board does not have a quorum and has been unable to conduct business since the Trump administration fired the chair and another member. The president has announced five nominees to the board, though the US Senate must confirm them. The TVA board is supposed to include nine members appointed by the president.
"While it is certainly a problem that the TVA board is without quorum, this is a crisis that has been manufactured by partisan actors who have been working to replace the TVA board as quickly as possible," said Leah McCord, Tennessee projects coordinator for Appalachian Voices.
No new TVA board nominees should be confirmed unless they have demonstrated "commitment to the public power model," said Bri Knisley, director of public power campaigns at Appalachian Voices.
Moul agreed with the speakers on the value of keeping the power authority public.
"Public power is one of America's greatest strengths because it puts people first, not profits," Moul said in a statement to Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. "The model that has worked for the Tennessee Valley region and this country for decades is building with a sense of urgency, building for safety, building with expertise, building as part of a long-range plan and building assets to operate decade after decade.
"That's our public power model. Those are our public power partnerships. That's what aligns with our national, state and local goals as well as our economic needs."
This is not the first time privatization of the TVA has been considered. Private utilities opposed the TVA model shortly after its formation by Congress in 1933, taking a legal battle to the US Supreme Court, though the court never ruled on the constitutionality of the TVA. Instead, justices upheld a lower court's decision that the private utilities had no right to bring a lawsuit against the public power provider for damages.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower once referred to the TVA as "creeping socialism" before signing a law establishing the TVA's current financial structure.
"In terms of privatization, it would be inappropriate to speculate," TVA spokesperson Scott Fiedler told Platts. "There have been proposals about TVA over the past decade, however, none have been seriously pursued by the US Congress."
The environmental advocates included the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Energy Alabama, Third Act Tennessee, Sunrise Movement Nashville, Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Climate Nashville, Climate Reality Project: Memphis and Mid-South Regional Chapters and Climate Reality Project: Nashville Chapter.
Labor groups included the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the Engineering Association, IFPTE Local 1937, the Office of Professional Employees International Union, the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Tennessee Building and Construction Trades Council and several other local trade unions.
