TVA board can't do business post-Trump firings: What to know for the 10M who use TVA power

Yahoo

03-04-2025

The Trump administration has laid off tens of thousands of workers from the federal government, but the firing of just two Tennessee Valley Authority board members could jeopardize policy-making for the nation's largest public power provider.
The Board of Directors is responsible for establishing the policies, long-term plans, goals and strategies for TVA, which has an expansive self-funded mission to produce power for 10 million people across seven states in the Southeast.
The nine-person board ensures the utility's CEO is carrying out the mission, but its membership is down to just four leaders after President Trump directed the terminations of Michelle Moore and Chairman Joe Ritch without publicly stating why.
Though the board has lost its quorum, it can still assure continued operations at TVA, according to the utility's bylaws. But it cannot approve new programs or change the direction of TVA until it has at least five members.
"TVA will continue to operate and deliver reliable, affordable energy to the 10 million people we serve across our seven-state region," TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in a statement.
The Trump administration is tasked with nominating members to fill the five vacant seats, though it has not announced any nominees.
TVA is funded through sales of electricity to 153 local power companies and around 60 large industrial customers. It also stewards 293,000 acres of federal land, prevents around $260 million in flood damage every year and attracts businesses and jobs to the Tennessee Valley with relatively cheap electricity.
Unlike private investor-owned utilities, TVA doesn't have shareholders and isn't subject to oversight by state and federal regulators. It's governed by the TVA Act of 1933 and overseen by a part-time board chosen by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Here's what to know about the TVA board as Trump fixes his attention on the governing body.
The TVA board deliberates and votes on the policies that govern the federal utility. It holds meetings open to the public four times a year at various locations in the Tennessee Valley, including a listening session the day before the meeting at which members of the public can address the board.
The board makes a range of decisions for the utility, such as how much to pay the CEO and which buildings TVA no longer needs. It also approves the annual budget and investments in new power plants and technologies, such as small modular reactors. Any changes to electricity rates must go through the board, which also selects new CEOs.
Don Moul will become the next president and CEO of TVA on April 9.
In order to serve on the TVA board, members must be U.S. citizens with management expertise at large for-profit or nonprofit entities, according to the TVA Act.
They cannot otherwise be employees of TVA, but they must support the utility's public power mission. At least seven of the nine members must be legal residents of the region TVA serves.
Across nearly 92 years, the TVA board has included David Lilienthal (nicknamed the "father of public power"), notable Knoxville business leaders Bill Baxter and Bill Sansom, and former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell.
Congress reformed the TVA governance structure in 2005 from a general manager and a three-person, full-time board – which acted more like a three-person CEO – to an actual CEO and a nine-member, part-time board.
The president nominates members to the TVA board and must rely on recommendations from elected officials, citizens and organizations in the Tennessee Valley, according to the TVA Act.
The president is legally obligated to seek members "who reflect the diversity, including the geographical diversity, and needs of the service area," the act states.
After the president nominates TVA board members, their nominations move to the U.S. Senate for confirmation. This process can take months or even years as the Senate often delays confirmation hearings and votes until the end of the congressional session.
Nominations to the TVA board expire when the two-year session of Congress ends, and some nominees never get the chance to be confirmed. That was the case for Patrice Robinson, a former Memphis City councilwoman nominated by President Biden in 2023.
TVA board members serve five-year terms, but they can serve after their term expires until the end of the current session of Congress if a successor does not take office before.
Yes. The part-time members of the TVA board receive annual stipends to support the time-consuming job.
Those stipends ranged from $61,100 to $68,100 in 2024, according to a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The chair of the board and chairs of board committees receive a higher stipend.
Four Biden nominees remain on the TVA board after the Trump administration fired Michelle Moore on March 27 and Joe Ritch on April 1:
Bill Renick of Mississippi, the board's new chair and former chairman the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi
Beth Geer of Tennessee, chief of staff for former Vice President Al Gore
Bobby Klein of Tennessee, former vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a longtime lineman and foreman
Wade White of Kentucky, former Lyon County Judge Executive and market president at Farmers Bank & Trust
With only four members, the board no longer has a quorum to conduct business. The board can still exercise powers to ensure "continuity of operations," but it does not have the power "to direct the Corporation into new areas of activity, to embark on new programs, or to change the Corporation's existing direction," according to the utility's bylaws.
The board is allowed to delegate certain powers to the CEO or other executives in order to ensure the utility carries out its mission. TVA will invest $16 billion over the next few years for reliability upgrades and new power plants, mostly natural gas plants, to meet growing demand for electricity.
Are you a current or former federal employee with a story to tell? Contact Daniel Dassow, a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy, at [e-mail] or on Signal @danieldassow.24.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TVA board can't do business after President Trump firings: What to know