TVA Timeline

President Roosevelt signs the TVA Act (Public 17, 73rd Cong., 48 Stat 58)

May

18

1933

First meeting of the TVA Board, whose members were Arthur E. Morgan, Harcourt A. Morgan, and David E. Lilienthal

Jun

16

1933

TVA Board adopts its initial Power Policy

Aug

25

1933

Construction begins on Norris Dam

Oct

1

1933

First Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp assigned to Tennessee Valley to concentrate on erosion control and tree planting

Oct

17

1933

Construction begins on Wheeler Dam

Nov

21

1933

Power service begins to city of Tupelo, Mississippi, under first TVA wholesale power contract

Feb

7

1934

Amory Water & Electric begins service in north Mississippi

Sep

2

1934

Operation of electric phosphorus furnace, used to make fertilizers, begins at Muscle Shoals

Nov

7

1934

TVA nurseries begin distributing tree seedlings for reforestation and erosion control

Nov

15

1934

President Roosevelt visits Norris Dam

Nov

16

1934

Test-demonstration work begins in Valley States using TVA concentrated phosphate

Mar

1935

Construction of Pickwick Landing Dam started

Mar

8

1935

Construction begins on Guntersville Dam

Dec

4

1935

Construction of Chickamauga Dam begins

Jan

13

1936

Construction begins on Hiwassee Dam

Jul

15

1936

Norris Dam operational

Jul

28

1936

Wheeler Dam operational

Nov

9

1936

Pickwick Landing Dam operational

Jun

29

1938

Construction of Kentucky Dam begins

Jul

1

1938

Construction of Watts Bar Dam begins

Jul

1

1939

Chickamauga Dam operational

Mar

4

1940

Hiwassee Dam operational

May

21

1940

Construction of Fort Loudoun Dam begins

Jul

8

1940

Construction begins on Cherokee Dam

Aug

1

1940

TVA signs general labor agreement with Tennessee Valley Trades and Labor Council, composed of 15 trade unions affiliated with the AFL

Aug

6

1940

Construction begins on Watts Bar Steam Plant

Aug

8

1940

President Roosevelt dedicates Chickamauga Dam

Sep

2

1940

In response to wartime needs, emergency power conservation program begins

Jul

1

1941

Construction of Appalachia, Chatuge, Nottely, and Ocoee No. 3 dams begins

Jul

17

1941

Construction begins on Fontana Dam

Jan

1

1942

Construction of South Holston Dam begins

Feb

1

1942

Douglas Dam construction begins for national defense purposes

Feb

2

1942

Watts Bar Dam operational

Feb

11

1942

Construction of Watauga Dam begins

Feb

16

1942

Lend-lease shipments of phosphates to Britain started

Mar

1

1942

Watts Bar Steam Plant operational

Mar

16

1942

Cherokee Dam operational

Apr

16

1942

Douglas Dam operational after just 12 months, 17 days of construction

Mar

21

1943

Ocoee No. 3 Dam operational

Apr

30

1943

Large-scale production of ammonium nitrate for fertilizer use begins at Muscle Shoals

May

20

1943

Appalachia Dam operational

Sep

22

1943

Fort Loudoun Dam operational

Nov

9

1943

Kentucky Dam operational

Sep

14

1944

Fontana Dam operational

Jan

20

1945

Kentucky Lake impounded, completing the 650-mile-long navigation channel from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Paducah, Kentucky, and linking the Tennessee Valley with the 20-state inland waterway system

Apr

8

1945

President Truman dedicates Kentucky Dam

Oct

10

1945

Federal government sells Town of Norris, Tennessee, to private owners for $2,107,500

Jun

15

1948

Largest TVA construction blast at the South Holston Dam site (1,300,000 pounds of explosive used to loosen an estimated 1,700,000 cubic yards of stone)

Feb

5

1949

Construction of Johnsonville Steam Plant begins

May

12

1949

One-millionth consumer added to TVA power system

Jul

28

1949

Watauga Dam operational

Aug

30

1949

Celebration in Murray, Kentucky, marking jointly the planting of the two-millionth tree in Calloway County and the 200-millionth tree in the Tennessee Valley

Dec

5

1949

Construction of Widows Creek Steam Plant started 

Mar

28

1950

Construction of Boone Dam begins

Aug

29

1950

Construction of Shawnee Steam Plant begins

Jan

20

1951

South Holston Dam operational

Feb

13

1951

Construction of Kingston Steam Plant begins

Apr

30

1951

Construction of Fort Patrick Henry Dam begins

May

14

1951

TVA and National Fertilizer Association sign Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of technical Information

Jun

13

1951

Construction of Colbert Steam Plant begins

Oct

15

1951

Johnsonville Steam Plant operational

Oct

27

1951

Widows Creek Steam Plant operational

Jul

1

1952

Construction begins on John Sevier Steam Plant

Oct

14

1952

TVA transfers to State of Tennessee 226 small waterfront public access areas on nine reservoirs in Tennessee, permanently assuring public access to and from federal reservoirs.

Feb

6

1953

Boone Dam operational

Mar

16

1953

Shawnee Steam Plant operational

Apr

9

1953

Construction begins on Gallatin Steam Plant

May

11

1953

Fort Patrick Henry Dam operational

Dec

5

1953

Kingston Steam Plant becomes operational as the world’s largest coal-burning power plant at the time

Feb

8

1954

Chatuge Dam operational

Dec

9

1954

Colbert Steam Plant operational

Jan

18

1955

TVA records the 60-millionth visit to its dams and steam plants since operations began in 1933

Mar

31

1955

John Sevier Steam Plant operational

Jul

12

1955

Nottely Dam operational

Jan

10

1956

Construction begins on Allen Steam Plant

Aug

6

1956

Gallatin Steam Plant operational

Nov

8

1956

TVA 25th Anniversary open house at dams and steam plants

May

18

1958

Allen Steam Plant operational

May

22

1959

President Eisenhower signs into law an amendment to the TVA Act making TVA’s power system self-financing

Aug

6

1959

Construction begins on Paradise Steam Plant

Nov

2

1959

TVA issues first power bonds

Nov

15

1960

Construction begins on Bull Run Steam Plant

Apr

2

1962

President Kennedy speaks at TVA 30th Anniversary Ceremony in Muscle Shoals

May

18

1963

Paradise Steam Plant operational

May

19

1963

TVA announces that strip mine land reclamation requirements will be included in future coal-purchase contracts

Jul

27

1965

TVA Board decides to build first TVA nuclear power plant at Browns Ferry in Alabama

Jun

17

1966

Construction begins on Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant

Sep

12

1966

Bull Run Steam Plant operational

Jun

12

1967

First general increase in TVA power rates

Aug

31

1967

Construction begins on Cumberland Steam Plant

Mar

4

1968

Construction begins on Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

Apr

1

1969

Construction begins on Watts Bar Nuclear Plant

Dec

26

1972

Cumberland Steam Plant operational

Mar

1

1973

The largest regulated flood in the Chattanooga area – 37 feet -- since the completion of the TVA reservoir system.

Mar

18

1973

Major power conservation program begins in response to national energy shortage

Jul

1973

Browns Ferry Unit 1, TVA’s first nuclear power unit, operational

Aug

1

1974

Bicentennial Volunteers, Inc. (BVI), chartered

Nov

22

1975

President Jimmy Carter speaks to TVA employees at Knoxville Civic Coliseum

May

22

1978

Snail darters successfully transplanted from Tellico Dam Area

Mar

1980

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant operational

Jul

1

1981

The “Valley Adventure” barges begin six-month tour of the Tennessee Valley region as part of TVA’s 50th Anniversary celebration

Apr

1

1983

U.S. Post Office issues stamp commemorating TVA’s 50th Anniversary

May

18

1983

TVA Board creates the Office of the Inspector General

Oct

1985

TVA establishes Live Well Centers to promote employee health and fitness

1990

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant ranks 2nd in the nation and 8th in the world in overall annual power generation

1990

Director John B. Waters completes a “Voyage for the Valley”, a 650-mile inspection of the Tennessee River

Jun

13

1990

Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 achieves full-power operation

May

24

1991

Wetlands Research and Development Facility opens in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to develop strategies for reducing water pollution and other environmental dangers

Jul

10

1992

Nine economic development centers open across the Tennessee Valley

1995

TVA sells power bonds on the global market for the first time

Jun

1995

TVA Police commissions 125 former Public Safety Officers as federal police offers

Sep

12

1995

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Tennessee receives full-power operating license

Feb

7

1996

Watts Bar Unit 1 reaches 100 percent power for first time

May

9

1996

Olympic Games Whitewater Slalom events are held on the Ocoee River

Jul

1996

Federal appropriations for TVA’s non-power programs end

Sep

30

1999

TVA Board approved returning Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 1 to service

May

16

2002

Second-highest flood stage at Chattanooga in TVA’s history; TVA averts more than $400 million in estimated damage in the Chattanooga area alone.

May

7

2003

Reservoir Operations Study (ROS) completed

May

2004

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 signed into law, changing the structure of the TVA Board and creating the position of Chief Executive Officer

Dec

8

2004

First of nine part-time TVA Board members sworn into office

Mar

31

2006

Tom Kilgore named TVA President and first Chief Executive Officer

Oct

13

2006

TVA restarts Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 1, the nation’s first nuclear unit to begin commercial operation in the 21st century.

May

22

2007

President George W. Bush visits Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to congratulate TVA on bringing the first nuclear unit on-line in the 21st century

Jun

21

2007

TVA meets all-time record power demand of 33,499 megawatts

Aug

16

2007

TVA announces a record $447 million in tax equivalent payments to state and local governments 

Nov

29

2007

TVA celebrates its 75th anniversary

May

18

2008