TVA Seeks Public Input on Integrated Resource Plan

TVA provides power that keeps the lights on in homes and businesses across the region.

Having the right resources at the right times to meet customer demand requires continual planning.

For more than a year, TVA has been working closely with stakeholders on the 2025 Integrated Resource Plan – a comprehensive study that will help shape TVA’s energy system through 2050. TVA also prepared an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate the potential impacts associated with the IRP.

On Sept. 23, 2024, TVA published the draft IRP and the accompanying draft EIS.

The IRP will help ensure that the approximately 10 million people who use power supplied by TVA will have affordable, reliable, resilient and increasingly cleaner energy for decades to come. The EIS evaluates the potential impacts associated with the IRP.

Developing the draft IRP and EIS has been a collaborative effort with third-party participants such as national laboratories, stakeholder representatives on the IRP Working Group and the Regional Resource Energy Council, and the general public. The release of the draft initiates a public comment period that will run through Nov. 26, 2024.

The IRP effort is being led by Brian Child, vice president of Enterprise Planning, and Melanie Farrell, vice president of Valley Engagement and Strategy, each of whom have more than 20 years of experience at TVA. They took time to answer questions about the IRP.

Why is the IRP important?

We live and work in one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, Child said, and strides are being made in new clean energy technologies, making the work of this IRP especially important.

“The IRP helps TVA think broadly about how energy needs could evolve between now and 2050 and what resources could be used to power the homes and businesses across the region,” Child said. “The plan will serve as TVA’s compass for power generation decisions as well as for long-term operational and financial planning.”

What are the top highlights of the draft IRP?

“There are so many things I’d like to say about the draft IRP, and I’d encourage people to visit TVA’s IRP webpage for details,” Child said. 

If he had to summarize, Child said, he’d offer these highlights:

• Process. The IRP is a rigorous analytical process that considers future energy demand, evolving regulations, current power generation resources and emerging technologies. It examines what power resources could work best to meet the region’s future energy needs.
• Customer demand. The draft IRP suggests that between now and 2035, TVA will need to add 9 to 26 gigawatts of new dependable capacity to meet the region’s growing energy demand and replace retiring capacity. For reference, 1 gigawatt supplies enough energy to power about 585,000 average homes.
• Portfolio diversity. The draft results indicate that more renewables, gas, storage and demand-side resources will be needed to reliably meet growing demand.
• Innovation. It also will be important for TVA to continue exploring and developing new, clean energy resources and grid-enabling initiatives for integrating distributed resources.
• Decarbonization. The draft results indicate TVA would see a projected 75% to 90% reduction in carbon intensity by 2035 from its 2005 baseline and continued reductions beyond 2035.
• EIS. The draft EIS informs TVA’s decisionmakers on the relative impacts of the IRP on the natural and human environment.

Why should stakeholders engage in the IRP?

“The IRP has the potential to impact every resident and business in the seven-state region that TVA serves,” Farrell said. “We need robust and diverse opinions from stakeholders and the public to broaden our lens and challenge our assumptions.”

That input strengthens the planning process.

“People’s comments have the potential to prompt additional analysis and help ensure that TVA considers what is important to the public,” Farrell said.

How can the public participate in the IRP process?

TVA encourages stakeholders and the public to review the draft IRP and EIS and provide input during the public comment period.

TVA has planned online public webinars for 6 p.m. CT Oct. 30 and 11 a.m. CT Nov. 22. Over a monthlong period beginning Oct. 21, TVA will host 10 public open houses across the Valley region.

The meetings will include an IRP presentation, a question-and-answer session and time to chat with TVA experts about specific aspects of the IRP.

There are a handful of ways to provide input – by submitting a comment form at the in-person open houses, by submitting comments online via the TVA website or by sending comments by mail to Kelly Baxter, NEPA Project Manager, 400 W. Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37902.

How will public comments be incorporated into the final IRP?

“TVA will review and evaluate public input and conduct further analysis to appropriately incorporate feedback,” Farrell said.

Public comments will be addressed and printed in the final EIS.