Tennessee U.S. Reps. Burchett, Cohen Reintroduce the Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act

Tennessee U.S. Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) reintroduced a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives that would require the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to work to ensure its decision-making process is publicly available.

The Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act would require TVA to hold all of its board of director meetings in public and “provide public notice of no fewer than 6 calendar days” before any meetings. The bill, HR404, would also require the TVA to make minutes and summaries of each meeting accessible to the public.

“The TVA has recently been working to improve its transparency, and I was proud to introduce this bill last year to ensure those efforts continued,” Congressman Burchett said in a statement. “TVA transparency is no less important this year than it was last year, so I’m happy to bring this bill back to the House as part of our efforts to improve transparency across the board.”

“I have found the TVA’s lack of transparency in matters of public interest very troubling, so I am proud to cosponsor my friend Tim Burchett’s legislation. This is a commonsense and overdue reform that will give TVA’s customers, including ratepayers in Memphis, a better understanding and insight into its operations,” Congressman Cohen added.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which Congressman Burchett was recently appointed to serve on.

The reintroduction of the bill comes just weeks after TVA issued rolling blackout mandates for 153 local power companies in response to cold temperatures driving up the power demand during the holidays. As a result, TVA announced that a “thorough review” is in place of the events leading up to its rolling blackout mandates, The Tennessee Star previously reported.

The bill also comes shortly after TVA announced that it will be retiring its Cumberland Fossil Plant and replacing it with a natural gas plant.

Congressman Cohen argued TVA’s replacement plan would “lead to more pollution, more blackouts and more disasters.”

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Tim Burchett” by Congressman Tim Burchett. Photo “Steve Cohen” by Congressman Steve Cohen. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by JamesDeMers.

 

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4 Thoughts to “Tennessee U.S. Reps. Burchett, Cohen Reintroduce the Tennessee Valley Authority Transparency Act”

  1. michael Moore

    if Cohen is involved it can’t be good for anything .

  2. nicky wicks

    i was on board till i saw cohen was involved.

    he is TN’s worst person

  3. Math Tutor

    No wonder they experienced rolling blackouts over the Christmas winter storm period. Re-directing investment to unreliable, intermittent sources practically guarantees that in times of high grid demand, sufficient reliable “backup” will not be there.
    Utopian theories of purity are all very well, but they will not keep your house warm when the temperature drops lower than usual.

  4. Joe Blow

    I do not agree with Rep Cohen’s “Chicken Little the Sky is Falling” comments regarding the changeover of the Cumberland plant to natural gas. However, I would certainly like to see complete transparency in the TVA especially after the board being loaded up with “greenies”.

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