For Immediate Release, October 11, 2022
Contact: |
Gaby Sarri-Tobar, (240) 594-7271, gsarritobar@biologicaldiversity.org |
Lawsuit Seeks TVA Documents on Energy Plans, Fossil Fuel Industry Communications
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Tennessee Valley Authority today for failing to release thousands of pages of public records concerning the agency’s plans to build new gas plants, obstructing the transition to more affordable and resilient renewable energy.
The Center’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, follows two 2021 requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The first seeks data and reports considered by high-ranking TVA executives concerning the costs of energy alternatives, before the agency agreed to replace two coal plants with methane gas. The second request concerns communications between board members and fossil fuel industry officials or lobbyists.
“TVA should not be playing hide the ball with the region’s energy future,” said Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center’s energy justice program. “People have a right to know why this public utility and its board are standing in the way of affordable, safe, renewable energy. If TVA had nothing to hide, it would release these public records so customers could see why the agency decided to double down on dirty fossil fuels and who influenced those decisions.”
TVA identified almost 9,000 pages of data and reports in response to the first request. It’s withholding nearly all those documents because it claims that releasing even factual data would impair agency deliberations. The public records law requires that factual data be released.
In response to the second request, TVA claims board members have no records of communications with any fossil fuel-related officials or interest groups.
TVA plans to build two massive new gas plants and pipelines in Cumberland and Kingston, Tennessee. In comments filed last week, the Center urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the permit application for the Cumberland plant, saying TVA failed to fully consider alternatives to new fossil fuel facilities.
TVA plans to retire just 3% of its coal plants by 2030, according to a new report, and build more than four gigawatts of new gas, the second-largest planned gas buildout among all major utilities. That’s despite its pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 and President Biden’s federal mandate for carbon emission-free electricity by 2035.
“If TVA insists it’s cheaper to build new fossil fuel projects and quash renewable energy alternatives, the public should at least be able to see the math,” said Sarri-Tobar. “All we’ve seen so far are empty promises and greenwashing. Without the details, people should assume TVA is withholding the data because the numbers simply don’t add up.”
TVA is a federally owned corporation and the country’s largest public power provider. It generates electricity for more than 10 million customers in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.