Washington, D.C. – United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Representatives Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and John Rose (R-Tenn.) sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to abandon its proposal to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) transmissions assets.
“We write to state our strong objections to Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposal to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) transmission assets. This proposal was soundly rejected by Congress last year when OMB recommended selling TVA’s transmission assets.”
“Proposals to sell TVA’s assets undermines the utility’s credit, threatens to raise interest rates on the agency’s debt, and discourages investment which is harmful to the 9 million ratepayers that we represent. … TVA’s record for reliability is outstanding and the utility has among the lowest power rates in the country.”
“TVA’s ability to provide reliable, affordable power is essential to the TVA region’s families and businesses. Since 2013, TVA has supported the creation or retention of nearly half-a-million jobs and more than $55 billion in new capital investment in our region.”
Alexander has called the proposal to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority’s transmissions lines “a looney idea with zero chance of becoming law.”
The letter reads in full:
Dear President Trump:
We write to state our strong objections to Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposal to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) transmission assets. This proposal was soundly rejected by Congress last year when OMB recommended selling TVA’s transmission assets. Proposals to sell TVA’s assets undermines the utility’s credit, threatens to raise interest rates on the agency’s debt, and discourages investment which is harmful to the 9 million ratepayers that we represent.
The transmission assets that the budget request proposes to sell have been paid for by TVA ratepayers – not by federal taxpayers. Forcing TVA to sell these assets would severely hamper TVA’s ability to serve businesses and families in Tennessee. Further, TVA does not receive any federal taxpayer subsidies or federal appropriations, and federal taxpayers are not on the hook for the utility’s debt.
TVA’s record for reliability is outstanding and the utility has among the lowest power rates in the country. TVA’s ability to provide reliable, affordable power is essential to the TVA region’s families and businesses. Since 2013, TVA has supported the creation or retention of nearly half-a-million jobs and more than $55 billion in new capital investment in our region.
Over that same period, TVA has worked to reduce its debt and electric rates while making investments in lower-emissions energy sources that the utility needs to in order to be competitive in the future. This is important for the agency to fulfill its mission to provide “safe, clean, reliable and affordable power for the region’s homes and businesses,” which ultimately is good news for jobs and economic development in the Tennessee Valley.
