Rolling blackouts happened in the South, but not in Tennessee [View all]

Why Tennessee was able to avoid these extended outages and rolling blackouts?

Aaron Paul Melda, transmission and power supply senior vice president for the Tennessee Valley Authority, says the utility's continued reliability is a product of its dedicated workforce and its public power system model.

"We have been built and funded by the people of the United States and the Tennessee Valley and are beholden to them alone," he said, adding that the utility can plan its grid and operations more conservatively in the absence of investor pressure.

"We work to balance cost and high reliability and ensure a diverse fleet so that we have the ability to shift power sources if need be," he said.

We have a underlying philosophy of not putting all our eggs in one basket." TVA's power comes from coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources.

40% of TVA's generating capacity is nuclear, and 45% of its power is coming from carbon-free sources, according to the company.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2021/02/17/winter-storm-tva-avoid-rolling-blackouts-plagued-nearby-staes/6780479002/


We know TVA could never be built today under any GOP administration.