TVA 20-year Plan Heavy on Natural Gas, Nuclear

The Tennessee Valley Authority announced in March that it will not need to build a new power plant for at least 20 years. The utility, which covers all of Tennessee and parts of neighboring states, plans to address future power demand by increasing nuclear power output, retrofitting coal-fired power plants to burn natural gas, and utilizing energy efficiency programs.

While TVA recently funded a nuclear reactor to go online in Tennessee by this December, making it the first public utility to do so in the 21st century, it is abandoning construction on a $6 billion nuclear power plant project in Alabama. The utility is also holding off on plans to build a high-voltage power line that would carry wind power from Texas and Oklahoma.