TVA Takes the Public Out of Public Power

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The Tennessee Valley Authority stripped the public of another one of its powers, revising its National Environmental Policy Act to reduce or eliminate public involvement in TVA's decisions.

NEPA required the government to assess the environmental impacts of any major federal project, regulation, or policy and require public notice, environmental impact statements, and public comment periods. But as the Trump Administration moved to make the process a box-checking exercise rather than a means of protection and accountability, TVA has followed in their footsteps. Under its revised rules, public involvement is left entirely at TVA's discretion, and allows TVA to approve projects first and inform the public after.

In response, Sierra Club Campaign Organizing Strategist Bonnie Swinford released the following statement:

"This decision cuts the 10 million people who call the Tennessee Valley home out of TVA's process. It's clear that TVA does not care about doing what's right for its ratepayers, but only what's best for its board and the Trump Administration. It's not fair that we have to pay ever increasing energy bills every month, but TVA can decide our energy future behind closed doors without any accountability. It can keep dirty, expensive, and unreliable coal plants online past their retirement dates with zero public input from impacted communities. The NEPA regulations exist as an important guardrail for TVA, and one of the few ways the public can exert power over the energy process. We must keep utilities like TVA accountable to the communities it is meant to serve and protect."

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 https://www.sierraclub.org.