TVA forms advisory energy panels

photo The two cooling towers at TVA's Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Hollywood, Ala., tower 500 feet above the ground.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is forming two new advisory boards this fall to give advice and counsel about the changing power market ahead.

TVA is creating a new 19-member panel known as the Regional Energy Resource Council to offer ongoing input into how TVA balances the need for reliable power and low-cost electricity with energy efficiency, cleaner energy and transmission requirements. Joe Hoagland, chief technology officer for TVA, said the new council "will provide valuable advice as TVA develops policies and strategies associated with our future."

The group is similar to the Regional Resource Stewardship Council, which TVA created to give advice on environmental and land management issues. TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said TVA also will soon form an advisory board to help guide its Integrated Resource Plan, which is a 10-year plan for future power growth in the Valley.

The new Regional Energy Resource Council is headed by Goodrich "Gus" Rogers, the president of the Jackson County Economic Development Authority in Alabama. Rogers is an ardent supporter of finishing the incomplete Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant his Hollywood, Ala., which TVA will consider in is long-range power plan. But other members of the 19-member panel approved by the TVA board have differing views.

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TVA said council members,who will serve without pay for the next two years, have a variety of business, consumer, environmental, educational and community backgrounds. Jack Simmons, president of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association in Chattanooga, is among the members

"TVA wants to ensue that it manages the power system with all public interests in mind," Hoagland said.

TVA is governed by a 9-member board appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

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