Bipartisan senators rebuke Trump Administration proposal to privatize federal Tennessee Valley Authority assets

A bipartisan pair of senators argued on Thursday that the Trump Administration’s proposal to sell federal assets of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Power Marketing Administrations (PMA) would lead to higher rates for electric customers in the region.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order, the Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch, in March 2017. On Thursday, the Administration released a proposal under the executive order to sell federal transmission assets of the TVA and PMAs.

U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, argued that privatizing the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the federal that operates the TVA and PMA, would negatively impact ratepayers in the region.

“The Trump administration’s proposal to privatize BPA is a terrible idea,” Cantwell said. “Replacing cheap cost-based power with more expensive energy is bad for consumers and bad for business. Our cheap hydro system has been the backbone of our economy for decades, allowing many industries to flourish because of low electricity rates. This is a bad idea that has been soundly rejected before and will be again.”

Cantwell and Alexander also voiced opposition to administration plans to sell federal transmission assets of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and additional PMAs in a letter sent to the president in March.

“TVA’s continued success and ability to provide low-cost power is vital to the TVA region’s families and businesses,” Alexander said. “This looney idea of selling TVA and TVA’s transmission lines seems to keep popping up regardless of who is president, and each of those proposals have all been soundly rejected by Congress. When President Obama proposed selling TVA in 2013, all it did was undermine TVA’s credit, raise interest rates on TVA’s debt and threaten to increase electric bills for 9 million ratepayers. TVA has among the lowest power rates in the country which, along with its reliability, help bring numerous new businesses to the region.”

Alexander also led every member of the Tennessee delegation in a letter opposing privatization of TVA transmission lines in April. The lawmakers argued that TVA’s “continued success and ability to provide low-cost power is vital to the TVA region’s families and businesses.”