The IBEW is alarmed by reports the Trump administration is looking to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority and is calling on members of Congress and officials throughout the Deep South to resist such a move.
“The TVA is the primary reason the Deep South became the economic force it is today, and IBEW members have been there every step of the way,” International President Kenneth W. Cooper said. “It’s an American success story that required skilled, union labor. We will fight tooth and nail attempts to turn it into a for-profit corporation whose only concern is ultra-rich shareholders.”
About 10,000 IBEW members are employed by the authority, which provides low-cost electrical service to more than 10,000,000 customers in seven states throughout the Deep South.
“When you are doing everything right, why are people attacking you unless there’s some kind of political angle?” Tenth District International Vice President Brent E. Hall said.
“We try to keep politics out of the TVA,” Hall added. “Our job is to generate electricity and keep the lights on.”
Citing sources, The Atlantic reported that President Trump pressured the TVA to scrap a planned gas-fired plant near Nashville, Tenn., after country music star John Rich complained about it being too close to his home. Rich said in a post on X that he spoke to Trump about the matter.
The administration followed that up with telling the TVA board – now with only three members instead of its usual nine – to fire CEO Don Moul or they risked being replaced, The Atlantic reported. Trump already has fired three members appointed by former President Joe Biden, although retired Tenth District International Vice President Robert “Bobby” Klein remains a member.
So far, the board has declined to do so, noting it had no cause and that Moul has followed the Trump administration’s instructions of “unleashing American energy and achieving American energy dominance.”
The Atlantic reported the board is concerned Trump is using the dispute involving Rich to advance privatization of the TVA.
Congress and the executive branch have rarely interfered with the board in the past because of its unique setup and because it had little reason to do so. TVA is owned by the federal government but receives no federal funding and is run more like a for-profit company.
TVA was founded in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression because investor-owned utilities refused to invest in what was then the poorest section of the country.
IBEW members have been employed by the TVA from the beginning. They would play a key role in the building of the TVA’s proposed small nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which is awaiting federal approval.
“You bring in a new board and a new CEO and we wouldn’t know what the relationships would be like the next day,” Hall said. “Would they value the IBEW? Are they going to be committed to the communities they serve or to Wall Street?”
In addition to electrification, the TVA brought modern navigation and flood control, especially on the Tennessee River and its tributaries, to the region. It also has preserved about 485,000 acres for public recreation. A 2021 study by the investment bank Lazard found that it had met or exceeded all its investment goals since 2014.
“IBEW members have been serving TVA, and TVA has been serving its customers and communities for nearly a century,” Cooper said. “Even the suggestion of this administration meddling with its successful formula should have members of Congress shouting from the rooftops. Now is the time to speak out, not after changes are announced.”
IBEW members, especially those in the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia, should reach out to their members of Congress and the U.S. Senate via the Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Tell them “Hands off the TVA.”
