Tennessee Valley Authority to invest $3.5B in gas-burning plants instead of expanding renewable-energy sources

Tennessee Valley Authority's service area; to enlarge, click on it.

"The nation’s largest federally owned utility plans to invest more than $3.5 billion in new gas-burning electric plants, despite President Biden’s commitment to swiftly move away from fossil fuels and eliminate greenhouse gases from the power sector in a little more than a decade," Lisa Friedman reports for The New York Times. "The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to nearly 10 million people across the Southeast, is replacing aging power plants that run on coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. But critics say substituting gas for coal would lock in decades of additional carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet and could be avoided by generating more electricity from solar, wind or another renewable source."

A TVA spokesperson said the agency had considered adding more capacity from renewables, but they were less dependable and more expensive than gas. Gas prices can fluctuate greatly; Friedman notes that electricity generation from wind and solar is now generally cheaper than gas.

TVA, once the nation's largest coal buyer, now generates nearly half its power from renewables: "Its legacy hydroelectric dams provide 11 percent of the agency’s power, while nuclear energy supplies another 39 percent and wind and solar make up 3 percent. It has shuttered coal plants to the point that it now draws 19 percent of its power from coal," Friedman reports. "Still, environmental advocates argue that the TVA directors have lagged on energy efficiency and are slow-walking a transition to solar and other renewable power at a time when scientists say countries must sharply and rapidly cut pollution from fossil fuels or face a planet that will dangerously overheat."

Some environmental advocates have criticized Biden for not living up to his campaign promises by allowing the TVA to make this decision, but the president has limited control over its actions. It's an independent agency run by a nine-person board of governors, which is dominated by members nominated by former President Trump.

An opinion piece in from the liberal outlet Jacobin asserts that Biden could simply remove TVA board members who don't implement his climate goals, but it's not that simple. He can remove them only "for cause" and the Senate has to approve any replacements. Biden has already nominated four new members, all still waiting for Senate confirmation, Friedman reports. A White House spokesperson said the appointees are expected to be confirmed this spring.

"In the meantime, Rep. Frank Pallone, the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has opened an investigation into TVA’s plans for new gas-powered plants," Friedman reports. "He and other Democrats said that residents pay too much for Tennessee Valley Authority energy and that the utility is not doing enough to decarbonize."