A new report, Recommendations for Reducing Costs and Improving Reliability for Tennessee Valley Authority Customers, released by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) in partnership with the Southern Renewable Energy Association (SREA) and in collaboration with Paul Hastings has highlighted critical steps Congress should take to improve the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA’s) transmission planning to make electricity service more affordable, reliable and resilient for customers.
The report outlines actionable recommendations to prepare TVA for growing energy demands, more frequent extreme weather events, and develop or purchase the lowest-cost generation. It is timely as TVA conducts its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process, an undertaking, which currently does not require inclusion of the transmission expansion options required for procurement of the lowest-cost power options.
The TVA service territory experienced blackouts for during Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, when the region’s power supply did not meet demand. An extra gigawatt of transmission ties to other regions could have saved TVA consumers up to $95 million during the storm.
“As the region navigates some of the most significant challenges to the power sector since those that inspired the TVA Act, TVA’s ratepayers would benefit from transmission planning processes consistent with the best practices other grid planners are using across the nation,” said Jonathan Geldof, Senior Government Affairs Manager for ACORE’s Macro Grid Initiative. “It’s encouraging to see Congress and TVA’s Board of Directors already taking steps to improve TVA’s processes and this report offers additional recommendations for ensuring low-cost power in the regions’ future.”
Integrating transmission and generation planning will help ensure reliable, affordable power for TVA’s 10 million customers. The report provides various policy interventions for Congress to improve TVA’s transmission planning, including:
- Reforming TVA’s Board
- Reforming TVA’s IRP Process
- Requiring Expanded Interregional Transmission Planning
- Permitting Reform
- Bringing TVA Under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Jurisdiction
TVA’s Board of Directors looks after the IRP process and the Congress can help ensure the board is equipped to work in the best interests of ratepayers by providing the directors with technical staff support to better assess TVA’s proposals.
