After Senate hearing, Appalachian Voices urges TVA board nominees to commit to customer protections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2025

CONTACTS: 
Bri Knisley, Director of Public Power Campaigns, brianna@appvoices.org
Chelsea Barnes, Director of Government Affairs and Strategy, chelsea@appvoices.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing to consider nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, including Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood, Randy Jones and Arthur Graham.

Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, who is rumored to be interested in the TVA CEO job, provided an introductory statement for the nominees who, if confirmed, will be in a position to remove the current CEO and hire Hagerty into this role. 

“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing instability at TVA that has been caused by the current administration,” said Bri Knisley, Director of Public Power Campaigns. “The next board of directors will have to work hard to get TVA back on track. They need to protect affordability by sticking to commitments to close outdated, expensive power plants that would drive up customers’ bills, and they must maintain the public power model and make sure the CEO role stays nonpartisan and based on qualification and experience.” 

During the hearing, senators on the committee questioned the four nominees about the possibility of privatizing TVA; maintaining current closure plans for harmful and expensive coal power plants; maintaining collective bargaining agreements for union workers; and the status of the draft integrated resource plan, which guides the utility’s long-term decision making.

None of the four nominees committed to maintaining the existing plans to close the Kingston and Cumberland coal generating plants currently scheduled to shutter in 2027 and 2028. Instead, most suggested keeping expensive and polluting power plants operational to satisfy potential increases in demand caused by expansive data center development.

All four nominees expressed opposition to privatizing TVA. When Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., pressed the nominees further regarding whether they would vote to sell off specific TVA assets, the answers were less certain. 

“While it was good to hear from the nominees that they oppose privatization, when pressed further, all but Mr. Jones left an opening to sell off assets,” said Chelsea Barnes, Director of Government Affairs and Strategy at Appalachian Voices. “If these nominees are confirmed, we hope they commit to transparency around any sales of TVA assets and keep their commitment to maintain TVA in the hands of the people. We urge senators to continue to question the nominees’ intentions and reject nominees who don’t put the interests of the people ahead of billionaires and big business.”

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump fired three board members after they hired a new CEO for TVA, Don Moul. These firings left the TVA board without a quorum and unable to make decisions critical to the operation of the largest federally owned utility. If these nominees are confirmed, the board will once more have a quorum.

Trump has proposed selling TVA assets in the past, but the proposal was rejected by Congress during his first term. This year, he declined to propose the sale of TVA assets to private companies in his formal budget proposal to Congress, but is expected to pursue such sales through the TVA board and CEO directly. 

A fifth nominee for the TVA board, Lee Beaman of Nashville, Tennessee, was not part of today’s hearing. It is unclear if he will be considered at a later date.