Southern Alliance for Clean Energy – Page 2

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will harness more solar energy over the next 20 years, more wind power if it gets cheaper, and less power from coal. But some say its environmental goals don’t go far enough.

The TVA dropped its final Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) late last week, the culmination of a process that began in February 2018. That plan is a basic roadmap the nation’s largest power supplier will follow to meet the ever-growing needs for power to 154 local power companies and 58 other customers throughout the Valley.

Tennessee Valley Authority

At the heart of the plan is the mix of energy sources TVA says it will likely use over the next 20 years. Picking that mix was driven largely by the need of diverse and flexible sources of energy and a federal mandate for low costs, TVA said in its report issued Friday.

TVA measures that mix in megawatts, or 1 million watts of power, enough to power about 750 homes at once. So, how much does it need? In its 2018 fiscal year, TVA provided more than 163 million megawatt-hours of electricity to its customers.

Coal power will reduce as TVA retires two coal-fired plants, in Paradise (Kentucky) and Bull Run (Tennessee). TVA will try to renew a 20-year license to operate its Browns Ferry (Tennessee) nuclear plant. It will up its use of combined cycle plants, like our Allen plant, over the next 20 years. How much, though, (maybe up to 9,800 megawatts by 2038) depends on demand and natural gas prices.

As for renewables, TVA said they’re definitely in the mix. Solar power could expand on the TVA grid (as much as 14,000 megawatts by 2038) if the demand is there. TVA said it could add up to 4,200 megawatts of wind power to its mix by 2038 if it becomes cost-effective.

Environmental groups gave TVA some credit for “moving in a smarter economic and environmental direction,” according to a statement from the Sierra Club’s Southeast region chapter, but the agency has a long way to go.

“Renewable energy technologies are smarter and safer than fossil fuels, and it’s now known that they’re the cheapest form of new electricity generation across most of the world — cheaper than both coal and gas,” said the Sierra Club’s Al Armendariz. “So, even as TVA is making positive strides in this new plan, its leaders must start planning for an energy future that doesn’t just trade coal for gas — which not only exposes customers to a volatile market, but also worsens the climate crisis.”

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) did note that TVA’s new plan does include “recommendations for greater energy efficiency, transparency, and renewables.” But the group called the energy plan “outdated and a blow to customers.”

For one, it said, the plan undervalues energy-efficiency savings for customers. For example, Duke Energy Carolinas customers get seven times more savings from efficiencies than TVA customers.

Also, TVA’s solar plans, SACE said, would only benefit big business customers like Google and Facebook. Residential and small business customers here are “being left out and left behind” on potential solar savings.

Lawmakers Want a More Transparent TVA

The Tennessee General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee added their voices to the chorus of lawmakers who think the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) should make all of its meetings open to the public.

TVA conducts its four, quarterly meetings in public. But committees meet in secret before those public meetings to discuss issues on the TVA’s upcoming agenda. A TVA spokesman said, though, committee meetings “are not decision-making meetings and a quorum of board directors is not present.”

In January, two Tennessee Congressmen — U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) — introduced the Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act of 2019. That bill ”would require meetings of the TVA Board to be held in public, properly noticed, and make available minutes and summaries of each meeting.”

State lawmakers in both houses passed a resolution this year signing on to the idea that TVA’s meetings should be public. It was passed unanimously in the Senate. It received only one “present not voting” action from one of the House’s 94 members present the day of the vote. Speakers in the House and Senate signed the resolution last Monday. Lee signed it the next day.

The resolution says all the lawmakers ”strongly support the passage of the Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act of 2019.”

“…it is vitally important to the citizens of Tennessee that TVA, as an entity created and protected by Congress, should conduct their business in the open and be as transparent as possible…,” it reads.

The state resolution was filed by Sen. Ken Yager (R-Kingston). He said he “could not agree more with what” Burchett was “trying to do” with his bill.

”We all know…that the TVA is the steward of billions of dollars of ratepayers’ money,” Yager said. “But they also make rules that govern the lives and effect the lives of everybody else in Tennessee, not the least of which are the property owners of this state.

“I just think in the spirit of transparency, and open government, these meetings — all their meetings — should be open. When Congressmen Burchett filed the bill, I wanted to give the legislature the opportunity to show their support with a resolution.”
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When asked about the resolution Tuesday, TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said, “TVA is a federal agency and follows direction and guidance provided by Congress.”

Brooks also gave a list of details ”about our current efforts to remain open and transparent.” Here it is:

• TVA is one of very few government agencies that file detailed financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• Significant decisions are preceded by various assessments according to the National Environmental Policy Act, which include public comment periods.
[pullquote-1] • TVA routinely posts detailed information through public channels, including public meetings, webcasts, our website and social media.

• TVA responds thoughtfully to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests that come in from members of the public.

• TVA board meetings have been, and remain, open to the public.

• Board meetings are streamed live on TVA’s website and videos are available for viewing after each meeting.

• The board hosts public listening sessions prior to each board meeting.

• TVA Board committee meetings are not decision-making meetings and a quorum of board directors is not present.

• Confidential and sensitive information is shared in committee meetings to allow directors to provide better oversight.

• Committee meetings are often held in TVA operation areas that contain unique safety and security considerations.

When Burchett filed the bill in January he said, “I had a good, informative meeting with (former) TVA CEO Bill Johnson this week, and while I understand that TVA has reasons for not wanting to open all meetings to the public, as an entity created and protected by Congress, the public deserves to know the Authority’s business is as open and transparent as possible.”
[pullquote-2] Lindsay Pace, Tennessee regional organizer on the Renew TN campaign, wrote Monday that TVA’s board meetings are “highly scripted” with ”the real discussion between board members happening behind closed doors in committee meetings.” But the lack of transparency does not end there, Pace wrote on the blog for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).
SACE

Cynthia Brown delivers public comments at one of the last TVA board meetings in which public comment was allowed to happen the same day as the board meeting. The public is no longer allowed to provide comment during the actual TVA board meetings.

“Currently, there are very few opportunities for the public to engage with TVA and what little interaction the public had has severely diminished with the change in structure to the board meetings,” Pace wrote. “Last fall, TVA made the decision to split the public listening session from the board meetings, with the listening session now being held the day prior to the board meeting and not live streamed online like the rest of the board meeting.

“Both the listening session and board meeting are held during typical workday hours, which has resulted in forcing many of those who want to attend to choose between the two, since taking consecutive days off work is not feasible for the majority of working people.”