The Tennessee Valley Authority, which already generates most of its electricity from carbon-free nuclear and hydroelectric sources, pledged Thursday to continue to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions in the future by encouraging more energy efficiency, phasing out the last of its coal power plants and turning more to harnessing the power of the sun with more solar generation backed up by peaking natural gas power plants.
In its annual sustainability report released Thursday, TVA said even with increasing power demand from the region’s growing population and electrification of transportation, TVA’s carbon output has dropped by 55% since 2005. Nearly 60% of TVA’s power capacity is now carbon-free, and the agency is working toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Michael McCall, TVA’s chief sustainability officer, told the federal utility’s board Thursday the transition to a clean energy economy may be as revolutionary as the electrification of the Tennessee Valley that TVA helped spur when it was created in 1933.
“TVA held a unique standing then and still does today — built for people, not profit — a public power company created to serve the common good,” McCall said in TVA’s annual report on its environmental initiatives. “Because of that unique position, we have an opportunity to lead the way in sustainability. Our increasingly clean energy is powering that revolution, as the region becomes a hub for next-generation industries, from advanced nuclear power to electric vehicle manufacturing.”
