Tag: TVA

U.S. House Passes Bill to Require Tennessee Valley Authority Disclose Salaries for Top Executives

Tom Pappert

The U.S. House of Representatives on recently legislation filed by Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) and Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) that would require the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to publish the salaries of its top executives, Cohen announced in a Monday press release.

Titled the TVA Salary Transparency Act, text of the two-page bill reveals new requirements would be posed for the TVA to provide annually “a report of the total number of employees at the management level or above, to include all executives and board members, that shall include the names, salaries, and duties” of employees “that are receiving compensation” higher than that allotted to the highest paid government employees.

Read the full story

Tennessee Valley Authority Requests ‘Voluntary Curtailment’ to ‘Reduce Electric Consumption’ but Predicts No Blackouts

Tom Pappert

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Tuesday began asking utility companies to request their customers voluntarily curtail their power usage in an effort to “reduce electric consumption” as frigid weather slows much of the country, but the federally owned power company recently told Tennessee media outlets it does not expect rolling blackouts to occur because of winter weather in 2024.

Energy companies in Alabama and Kentucky have confirmed the TVA is requesting their customers decrease their energy use, with Huntsville Utilities in Alabama explained in a news release that “dangerously low temperatures” and “the expected high electric demand” prompted TVA to request “voluntary curtailment across their entire system.”

Read the full story

Tennessee Valley Authority Requests Businesses, Residents Reduce Power Usage as State Hits ‘All-Time’ December Power Peak

Kaitlin Housler

Amid temperatures in the teens and single digits across the state on Friday, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced that power demand in Tennessee hit an “all-time December peak.”

TVA announced Friday that it and local power company employees were “actively working to maintain a stable power grid for everyone amid unprecedented demand,” by “temporarily reducing power supplies to localized areas.”

Read the full story

TVA Board Member Harwell Legally Barred from Speaking Out About Woke ‘Pride Month’ Tweets

Aaron Gulbransen

TVA board members are not legally allowed to comment on the organization’s woke tweets, a representative from the Harwell campaign told The Tennessee Star.

TN-5 candidate and Trump-appointee to the Tennessee Valley Authority board Beth Harwell “could not comment on the federal agency’s woke tweets due to legal restrictions placed on her due to her status as an appointee,” said the campaign representative.

Read the full story

Tennessee Representative Scott DesJarlais Sends Letter to President Biden Warning Him of Result of Vaccine Mandates for Tennessee Valley Authority Employees

Kaitlin Housler

On Thursday in a press release, Tennessee Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) announced that he sent a letter to President Joe Biden regarding his executive order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for federal workers and the effects it will have on Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) employees.

Read the full story

Tennessee Valley Authority and United States Wildlife Service Continue Trout Stocking Program

Morgan Nicole Veysey
Trout swimming in water

In Bristol, Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the United States Wildlife Services have agreed to continue the popular trout stocking program. The program focuses on funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have been providing both the state of Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout. 

The programs funding for the hatcheries began in 2013, witch have been managed by “the Service,” consisting of Dale Hollow and Erwin in Tennessee, and Chattahoochee Forest in Georgia. After the Service, the fish are then put into these main rivers and reservoirs: Apalachia (Hiwassee River), Blue Ridge, Boone, Cherokee, Fort Patrick Henry, Normandy, Norris, South Holston, Tims Ford and Wilbur. Trout-stocked reservoirs in the plan include Fort Patrick Henry, South Holston, Parksville, Watauga and Wilbur reservoirs.

Read the full story

Company Allegedly Sought More Than $300,000 in Fraudulent Incentive Payments from TVA Through Software Installation in Rutherford County Schools

Chris Butler

A seven-count indictment unsealed this month charged two Danville, California men with conspiracy to defraud the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) of more than $300,000. This, according to a press release that staff with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Middle District of Tennessee published on their website.

Read the full story

Anderson County Commissioners Could Request Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Help on Sports Field with Potentially Hazardous Material

Chris Butler

Anderson County Commissioners are scheduled to meet Monday to decide whether to contact the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) about potentially radioactive coal ash waste, reportedly in a children’s playing area. Commissioners will also debate whether to contact the Tennessee Department of Health on the same matter.

Read the full story

Proposed Tennessee Valley Authority Transmission Line to Service New Facebook Data Center and Economic Development in Gallatin Will Impact Hundreds of Residential Property Owners’ Values and Raises Safety Concerns

Laura Baigert

A Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proposed transmission line that will service the new Facebook data center and support future economic development in Gallatin will impact as many as 165 property owners representing about 225 parcels, lowering their property values and raising their concerns for safety.

TVA notified property owners affected by the proposed transmission via letters dated in mid-January, which invited them to access a virtual open house between January 21 and February 22 for further information and the opportunity comment on the project.

Read the full story

Tennessee Valley Authority’s Use of Diverse Power Generation Sources Credited With Keeping Electricity Flowing in Tennessee During Winter Storms

Jason M. Reynolds

Unlike Texas, Tennessee has been blessed to largely keep the electricity on during the winter storms, with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) crediting its diverse generation assets.

Although thousands of homes throughout the Tennessee Valley have lost power at different times thanks to issues like trees falling on transmission lines, electric generation in the Volunteer State has held up despite the high demands from below-freezing temperatures.

Read the full story

Review of TVA CEO Jeff Lyash’s Pay Will Extend into 2021

The Associated Press

The review of a federal utility’s CEO compensation following President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the pay scale will continue into 2021, according to its board chairman.

John Ryder, Tennessee Valley Authority chairman, said at a board meeting held virtually Friday that results from an independent consultant’s review of CEO pay should be ready for the utility’s board meeting in February.

Read the full story

President Trump Fires Tennessee Valley Authority Chair Over Hiring of Foreign Workers, Caps TVA CEO Pay at $500k

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump said Monday that he had fired the chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority, criticizing the federal-owned corporation for hiring foreign workers.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he was formally removing chair Skip Thompson and another member of the board, and he threatened to remove other board members if they continued to hire foreign labor. Thompson was appointed to the post by Trump.

Read the full story

Tennessee Resolution Calls on TVA to Have Open Meetings

Chris Butler

Members of the Tennessee General Assembly will consider a resolution to express support for a bill in Congress that would require the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors to hold open meetings. This, according to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. According to the TCOG website, State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, explained Senate Joint Resolution 192 in a Senate committee meeting this month. The resolution won unanimous approval. “We all know, Mr. Chairman, that the TVA is the steward of billions of dollars of ratepayers money,” Yager reportedly told members of the Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee this week. “But they also make rules that govern the lives and affect the lives of everybody else in Tennessee. Not the least of which is the property owners of this state. I just think in the spirit of transparency and open government, that all of their meetings should be open. The Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act is sponsored by U.S. Rep Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, according to the TCOG. “Burchett’s bill would require the board and subcommittees of the board to hold their meetings in public, provide public notice of its meetings no fewer than six days before the…

Read the full story

TVA Believes Nashville Will Have More Electric Cars, Despite Evidence to the Contrary

Chris Butler

Taxpayers have paid millions of dollars to help electric vehicle manufacturers not only get their products out on the road but also furnish electric car charging stations all over Nashville. Prior reporting shows few people around Nashville appear to use these charging stations. Yet officials with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Nashville Electric Service expect more and more Nashville drivers will soon take up the habit of driving electric cars. They’re preparing a study to gauge how Nashvillians can best prepare. But must Music City drivers make way for more Chevy Sparks and Nissan Leafs? According to a press release, FleetCarma, TVA, the NES, and the Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation are launching something called SmartCharge Nashville. The statement says people interested in buying EVs wonder how far they can drive before they need a charge. Utilities also need to prepare for more EVs on the road, the release said. SmartCharge is supposed to help with both of those things. No one at the NES returned The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Friday. But TVA spokesman Joshua Clendenen said the following in an emailed statement to The Star: “While the adoption of electric vehicles inside the Tennessee Valley has…

Read the full story

Commentary: Tennessee Democrat Wrongly Pushes TVA as Broadband Solution

Admin
Phil Bredesen

The Democrat seeking to replace the retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R) is pushing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a solution to solve the rural broadband gap. But, history shows that kind of big-government method will only take a bite out of taxpayers. Bredesen, the former governor of the Volunteer State, said recently he wants to amend the federal TVA Act to permit that government-owned power providers offer broadband access to rural areas of Tennessee. He said, “TVA is perfect to fix this digital divide,” noting the TVA board’s 2017 plan to spend $300 million to expand its network fiber capacity, which should improve the reliability of its transmission system. “I want our country to get back to the days when it did bold projects and not just fool around the edges with grants, tax credits, and demonstration projects,” Bredesen said. TVA seems more pragmatic and less eager about the idea than Bredesen. TVA spokesman Jim Hopson told the Times Free Press the focus of the expansion is to ensure reliable delivery to power in seven states, and that TVA “is not intending to become a broadband supplier.” While the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act signed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam…

Read the full story