Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
Knoxville, TN - The Tennessee Valley Authority has received a poor grade on the Sierra Club’s Dirty Truth Report for the fifth year in a row. TVA received a ‘D’ on the report because of the utility’s massive gas buildout and slow adoption of clean energy. Exacerbating rising energy prices, TVA isn't adding cheaper, cleaner energy fast enough.
The Dirty Truth Report grades 75 utilities across the country on their plans to retire coal plants by 2030, not build new gas plants through 2035, and build clean energy through 2035. This report shows that—despite its promises—TVA is behind in developing clean energy, and millions of residents in its service region are facing the consequences of a grid powered by polluting fossil fuels. At the same time, electricity bills are increasing faster than inflation.
On TVA’s website, the federal utility claims that “TVA was created to benefit the public good, and our mission has stood the test of time…Our mission means providing the region with affordable and reliable energy, a healthy environment and a prosperous economy – now and for future generations.” But the dirty truth is that extending the life of coal plants will lock customers into more expensive electric bills, and the numerous gas plants TVA is planning to build are more expensive, less reliable, and dangerous to the environment and public health.
“Our future does not lie in old, dirty coal or more gas plants, but in making our homes more efficient, lowering electricity bills, and creating a wave of innovation in clean energy industries,” said Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Strategist Bonnie Swinford. TVA is simply missing an opportunity to offer its customers better efficiency and renewable options, which are cheaper, more sustainable, and can create jobs right here in the Tennessee Valley. I’m hopeful the board will find ways to power our regional economy with affordable, reliable, clean energy options in the future.”
“TVA can fulfill its statutory mandate of providing low-cost, reliable electricity to its customers, and live up to its mission of ‘making life better for the people of the Tennessee Valley’ without coal plants operating for several more decades or doubling down on risky gas plants,” said Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter Conservation Chair JoAnn McIntosh. “It is more affordable to deploy clean energy than it is to keep existing coal plants open or build new gas plants. TVA fossil plants carry far too many competitive risks from existing and emerging storage technologies, and volatile commodity prices.”
In an interactive webpage, users can see TVA’s score and what progress–if any–the utility has made toward transitioning to cleaner, more affordable energy since the first version of the report in 2021.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.