The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors approved the recommendations in the utility's 2026 Integrated Resource Plan on Thursday, along with a fiscal 2027 budget and a set of changes to the wholesale rate structure. TVA delivers power to roughly 10 million people across seven southeastern states and runs a generation mix that includes nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, renewables and advanced technologies.
The resource plan projects that the region will need 11 to 32 gigawatts of additional generation capacity between now and 2040. That range reflects population growth, advanced manufacturing and the rapid expansion of data processing and artificial intelligence load across the Valley. Nuclear sits among the resource options the plan weighs for meeting that demand.
On the budget side, the board approved more than $13 billion in planned spending through fiscal 2029 to maintain reliability and expand capacity, including more than $1 billion a year directed at the existing generation fleet and the transmission system. TVA has 4,120 megawatts of new utility owned capacity under construction and another 3,000 megawatts under evaluation.
The rate structure changes place large data center load in its own class so that residential and manufacturing customers avoid subsidizing the cost of serving it.
"Today's Board actions position TVA to meet the Valley's growing demand while continuing to advance American energy leadership," said Mike Skaggs, TVA interim president and chief executive officer.
TVA is a self supporting federal corporate agency that receives no annual federal appropriations and draws nearly all revenue from electricity sales.
Source: PR Newswire - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tva-board-protects-consumers-strengthens-reliability-amid-rising-power-demand-302856900.html