The shift from gasoline to electric-powered cars and the electrification of manufacturing in the growing Tennessee Valley is projected to boost the demand for TVA electricity by at least 50% by 2050, but the federal utility hopes to curb part of that growth with a renewed focus on energy efficiency measures.
TVA President Jeff Lyash told the TVA board this week that the utility will need to generate more power as electricity demand in TVA’s seven-state region rebounds from a decade of relatively stagnant growth in power consumption. Lyash said population and economic growth in the region, combined with the shift to electric vehicles and more electrification of home heating and industrial machinery, could significantly boost electricity demand during the next three decades.
“By 2050, we expect TVA to need half again as much energy as we supply today to support growth and electrification, and that energy must be clean,” Lyash told the TVA board Thursday during its quarterly board meeting in Florence, Alabama. “People’s reliance on electricity continues to grow, and that is going to continue in coming decades.”
Population and business growth