The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has appointed a new CEO who appears to favor the same nuclear energy technology endorsed by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in a recent op-ed, in a decision announced just days after President Donald Trump terminated one TVA board member’s appointment.
Don Moul was selected by the TVA board to serve as the fourth CEO of the nation’s largest public energy utility on Monday, with the agency noting Moul only joined TVA as its chief operating officer in 2021, but that he has worked in the energy industry for more than three decades.
“Don is ready to be the hand guiding TVA in a time of rapid change and growth, and he will continue to propel TVA’s nuclear leadership,” said outgoing Jeff Lyash (pictured here), the outgoing CEO of TVA.
Lyash additionally stated that Moul, “has led the development of next generation nuclear technologies and has a deep knowledge and appreciation for nuclear power – the most reliable power the world’s ever known.”
After becoming the target of criticism by Trump during the president’s first administration, Lyash announced his retirement earlier this year. TVA has maintained the decision was unrelated to Trump’s return to the White House.
Despite the claim about Lyash’s retirement being unrelated to the shifting political landscape, the appointment of Moul came just days after Trump terminated L. Michelle Moore from the TVA Board of Directors.
Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023, Moore reportedly spent most of her career working on clean and renewable energy projects. Her departure leaves four vacancies on the TVA board.
It also followed the op-ed in Power Magazine written by Blackburn and Hagerty, who wrote that TVA should appoint an outsider who was willing to embrace novel nuclear energy, particularly new Small Modular Rector (SMR) technology, to expand American energy production in Tennessee.
“The beauty of SMR technology is its simplicity. It’s just a smaller version of the nuclear technology that powers much of America today, with the benefit of being safer, more replicable, and more efficient. It’s not a science project, it’s a proven commodity,” wrote the senators last week. “As it stands now, TVA and its leadership can’t carry the weight of this moment.”
They later accused the board of behaving “more like a collection of political operatives than visionary industrial leaders,” and aiming its focus “on the diversity of its executives ahead of job creation for hungry workers in the region it is supposed to serve.”
Moul was previously tapped to participate in the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council by Governor Bill Lee, and last year the council published a report referencing the SMR technology endorsed by Hagerty and Blackburn, specifically urging the Volunteer State to partner with TVA and nearby states to adopt it.
As representative of TVA to the council, Moul recused himself from the recommendation, though the report confirmed he provided “insights to the Council based on Mr. Moul’s professional experience in the nuclear energy.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Don Moul” by TVA.
Will they now reduce the cost of my electricity?