Knox News: US Senate sets meeting to finally approve a Trump majority for the TVA Board

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Senate committee sets vote on Trump TVA nominees to end lengthy gridlock

Mariah Franklin

Knoxville News Sentinel

 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works − a gatekeeper for certain leadership roles at the nation’s largest public utility − has scheduled a hearing that could help end a lengthy gridlock at the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The committee will meet at 10 a.m. Oct. 29 to vote on four nominees for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board: Arthur Graham, Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood and Randall Jones. A favorable report from the 19-member Republican-majority committee sends the nominations one step closer to a final vote from all 100 senators.

 

If the nominees are confirmed, the start of their tenures would close a period of extended gridlock at TVA. It also would mean President Donald Trump’s appointees would make up a majority on the board.

The three current members are all appointees of former President Joe Biden. The panel requires five members for a quorum to conduct business.

The four nominees were all appointed by Trump and followed the president's firing of three Biden-appointed board members — Beth Geer, Michelle Moore and Joe Ritch — earlier this year. 

One remaining nominee for a spot on the TVA board, Lee Beaman, has not gone before the Senate committee in a hearing. If he and the four others are confirmed, only one seat on TVA’s board would be vacant.

 

The president can fire board members but can't directly hire replacements. Only senators can confirm them.

Who are the Tennessee Valley Authority nominees?

Two of the nominees are Tennesseans, and all but one − Arthur Graham, from Florida − come from TVA’s seven-state service region. 

Hagood is a Knoxville attorney and member of the city’s Sports Authority Board, and Graham has served on the Florida board that regulates state utilities since 2010.

 

Jones owns an insurance agency in Alabama and has chaired the Guntersville Electric Board in Alabama, while Graves is a hospital CEO and Memphis Light, Gas & Water commissioner.

The four men last took questions from senators Oct. 22.

 

What positions have the nominees taken on TVA?

The nominees are all proponents of TVA’s nuclear program. During a recent Senate hearing on their confirmation, each said they were committed to nuclear power and hesitant about retiring some fossil fuel plants by 2035.

 

That position means they’re in sync with Trump, who’s issued executive orders directing cuts to regulatory processes that often delay nuclear development and has promoted fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

The new board members are committed to keeping TVA public, a stance they all took amid Senate questions about the future of the utility.

 

Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah....@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01