Sustainability & Regulation

TVA's overarching Environmental Policy is to produce clean, reliable and affordable power, support sustainable economic growth in the Tennessee Valley and care for the environment in a balanced and ecologically sound manner. It is TVA's duty to promote the proper use of the Tennessee River watershed and its natural resources by the public. We are committed to sustainability and continuous improvement, proactive  stewardship in managing our natural resources, decreasing our environmental footprint and maintaining compliance with all applicable environmental and legal requirements.

Three important focus areas within the Regulations & Sustainability priority area requiring research and development are:

• Informing regulation and policy development
• Developing compliance options
• Driving for a sustainable energy future

TVA’s Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan and the Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan, developed by the Environment and Energy Policy organization, help focus our efforts on issues impactful to TVA and its stakeholders.

Objective, science-based research results are essential to inform the development of rational regulations and policies. Our focus is on addressing regulatory and policy-related activities for environmental media such as air, climate, water, coal combustion residuals and threatened and endangered species. We also focus on Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) requirements. To ensure compliance with these regulations and policies, research is conducted to identify, develop and demonstrate technologies that enable TVA to meet the requirements while continuing to provide clean, reliable and low-cost electricity.

Sustainability means ensuring TVA’s ability to provide our customers with competitively priced and reliable electricity, a healthy environment and a prosperous economy without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.