The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors met in Cookeville on Thursday and received an update on TVA’s financial health as well as "the historic buildout the agency has undertaken to power the region’s prosperity across seven states."
TVA believes that the region’s power grid will need to grow to maintain energy security and is taking proactive steps to keep up with demand, officials said.
“For more than 90 years, TVA and local power companies have powered a vibrant economy,” said Don Moul, TVA President and CEO. “Today, TVA is building new generation to unleash American energy to benefit families, power prosperity and grow this region’s economic success.”
Population growth varies across TVA’s seven-state region, but is still growing faster than the U.S. overall, especially in the working age population and those under 20 years old. In addition, the regional labor force continues to reflect healthy expansion, adding nearly 62,700 workers over the past 12 months (February 2023 to February 2024).
Officials said, "To address the region’s load growth due to growing population, industrial electrification and onshoring of manufacturing, TVA is making some of the largest capital investments in the agency’s history to ensure the region has reliable, affordable energy to power American jobs. TVA’s current planning assumption includes building about 5,500 megawatts of new firm, dispatchable generation, pending required approvals and environmental reviews. Over 3,000 megawatts are already under construction."
The Board heard an update on the following projects "to ensure TVA is on track to keep up with growing power demand":
- Johnsonville Combustion Turbine Plant - Startup and testing of the Johnsonville Aeroderivative Units is nearing completion and will provide 500 megawatts of peaking capacity for the summer season.
- Kingston Energy Complex - Construction is underway for 1,500 megawatts of combined cycle and dual-fuel Aeroderivative natural gas combustion turbines with 100 megawatts of battery storage; natural gas generation scheduled to be online by the end of 2027.
- Renewable Energy - TVA has over 1,500 megawatts of solar in operation with more expected to come online this year.
- Clinch River SMR Project - In April, TVA submitted a Letter of Intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), notifying the NRC that TVA, by end of June 2025, will submit the Construction Permit Application for a BWRX-300 SMR at Clinch River. The application is essentially the blueprint for the plant’s design and safety systems, and the NRC must approve the plans before construction could begin, in addition to approval of the TVA Board.
- Energy Efficiency and Demand Management programs - In May, TVA achieved a milestone – saving consumers $500 million in energy costs over the life of their energy upgrades since October 2023.
“TVA is building more generation to ensure we have reliable, resilient energy,” said Mr. Moul. “Additionally, TVA will continue to work with our partners to rapidly take advantage of innovation to design and deploy energy technologies that will not only power modern life but create American jobs and industries across seven states.”