Local leaders call on Trump to fill TVA board seats, not fire members: 'Horrible precedent'

• Leaders of energy nonprofits and environmental groups spoke out against the termination of a TVA board member.
• The Trump administration fired Michelle Moore, a Biden nominee set to serve until 2026, on March 27.
• Utility companies and nonprofits expressed frustration that Trump left board seats empty at a critical time for the utility.

Leaders from energy and environmental organizations in the Tennessee Valley expressed concern over the Trump administration's sudden termination of Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors member Michelle Moore on March 27 during a critical time for the nation's largest public power provider.

"The firing of this TVA board member adds a lot of uncertainty to TVA, and it's at a time where TVA does not need any uncertainty. They need certainty right now," Cortney Piper, executive director of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council, told Knox News.

The board is in the process of selecting a new leader for the federal utility after CEO Jeff Lyash announced his plans to retire earlier this year. TVA is midway through a program to build 7,000 megawatts of new natural gas plants to meet rising electricity demand, part of a $16 billion investment over the next few years.

It also plans to add 10,000 megawatts of solar energy by 2035 through purchase power agreements, and to submit a construction permit for the nation's first small modular nuclear reactor this year.

The TVA board now has only five members out of nine. If it loses one more member, it will no longer have enough to conduct its business.

Four open seats could be filled by members nominated by Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, though this process went unmentioned by Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee in an op-ed criticizing the Biden nominees on the board and calling for an interim CEO.

The Senate has moved slowly on filling empty TVA board seats for decades, frustrating companies that partner with the utility, Piper said. The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, a nonprofit representing electric utilities in the Tennessee Valley, called on the Trump administration to fill vacant seats on the board.

"A full nine-member complement of Board members, focused on the best interests of the Tennessee Valley and independent of political partiality, is needed for TVA to function at its best," Doug Peters, president and CEO of the nonprofit, told Knox News in a statement. "We urge the Trump administration and the Senate to act expeditiously to appoint and confirm new Directors to enable TVA to fulfill its mission and responsibility to local power companies and the 10 million people they serve.” 

Even without terminations, the Trump administration will be able to replace all of Biden's nominees when their five-year terms expire. Trump fired two TVA board members during his first term in 2020.

"While this is not surprising, TVA is a strong enough organization and has enough support in this valley that it will recoup and move forward," Mike Arms, executive director of the Association of Tennessee Valley Governments, told Knox News.

Environmental group: Political TVA firing sets 'horrible precedent'

While Trump has the power to nominate and remove board members, the board has the power to select and remove CEOs. TVA has had three CEOs since Congress created the position in 2005.

Moore leads Groundswell, a nonprofit that empowers rural communities through solar energy projects and energy efficiency programs, and has over 25 years of experience in business and energy leadership.

Her termination demonstrates the Trump administration's desire to "micromanage TVA decision making" about how to generate power, said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Building more solar energy and grid-level batteries would be a cheaper option for TVA than natural gas plants or new nuclear technologies, Smith said. Blackburn and Hagerty pushed the utility to develop small modular reactors faster under the Trump administration to cement the president's legacy as "America's Nuclear President," but TVA ratepayers may have to help foot the bill.

"We're disappointed that Trump has entered into this sort of hyper-partisan mode of trying to modify the TVA leadership, and by prematurely firing Michelle Moore, he's weakened the TVA board," Smith said. "It's a horrible precedent, and it also does not bode well for the financial interest of the Tennessee Valley."

Moore's term on the board was set to expire on May 18, 2026. Though TVA board members are nominated by the president, they typically serve under other administrations, with majorities alternating between nominees of Republican and Democratic presidents.

“As a seventh-generation Tennessean, I can tell you that Donald Trump doesn’t have the first clue about what TVA customers need and want. While he’s in Washington or golfing in Florida, millions of families in our communities rely on TVA to keep utility costs down and the lights on," Amy Kelly, Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign manager, told Knox News in a statement. "It is shameful that the president would make such a rash decision without listening to the voices of the people his actions impact.”

TVA generates electricity for 10 million people across seven Southeast states. Though its workforce of more than 11,000 employees did not qualify for a federal buyout and has not been targeted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, the utility is undergoing an internal cost-cutting program to cut operational spending by $500 million.

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 daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com or on Signal @danieldassow.24.

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