President Biden’s appointees control the majority of seats on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors after six new members were sworn in Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate approved all six of Biden’s board nominees through a voice vote just before Christmas. Without the Senate’s approval, the TVA board would have lost quorum and its ability to make business decisions.

The new members are:

• • • Beth Geer, chief of staff to former Vice President Al Gore and a participant in the Nashville Sustainability Accountability committee;
    • Bobby Klein, vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers after a decades-long career as a lineman and foreman in Chattanooga, Tenn.;
    • Michelle Moore, author of “Rural Renaissance” and CEO of Groundswell, a nonprofit that builds community power to reduce energy burdens and expand economic opportunity;
    • Bill Renick, a former Mississippi state legislator and mayor who chairs the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi;
    • Joe Ritch, an Alabama-based attorney and former TVA board member (2013-2017); and
    • Wade White, a former Kentucky county judge-executive.

They join TVA Board Chair William Kilbride, whose term expires in 2023, and fellow incumbents Beth Harwell and Brian Noland; their terms expire in 2024. The full nine-member board will meet publicly for the first time in February when it holds a quarterly business meeting in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Kilbride said in a press release that the federal agency was delighted to welcome the newcomers aboard “during this challenging but exciting period.”

“They each bring diverse perspectives and experience to the board that will help guide TVA as it plans for the future while entering its 90th year of service to the region,” he said.

Biden originally nominated Geer, Klein and Moore in the spring of 2021 and re-upped their nominations in January 2022. The trio faced a somewhat combative Senate confirmation hearing last year, with Republican lawmakers expressing worry that adding more progressive board members would lead to abandoning TVA’s fossil fuel fleet. (See TVA Board Nominees Back Renewable Power, Affordability.)

Biden nominated Renick and White in June 2022; Ritch’s nomination followed in July. Renick and Ritch have Democratic affiliations, while White is a Republican.

Ritch’s term expires in 2025 and Renick’s and White’s in 2027. The other three terms expire in 2026.

The full board has its work cut out for it. TVA was forced to order rolling blackouts ahead of Christmas day, leading to another FERC–NERC joint inquiry into grid performance during winter storms. (See FERC, NERC Set Probe on Xmas Storm Blackouts.)

The board is also tasked with approving TVA’s resource mix under its next 10-year integrated resource plan, due out in 2024. The federal utility has come under pressure in recent years from renewable power advocates, who say TVA is shortsightedly planning natural gas generation and overlooking renewable resources. (See Nonprofits Urge TVA to Reconsider Gas-fired Options.)

Some conservation groups have said the agency’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is too gradual and out of step with the Biden Administration’s 2035 target for decarbonizing the power sector. TVA responded last year to a letter of inquiry from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce that focused on its decarbonization goal and energy affordability. (See TVA Defends Rates, CO2 Reduction Plans in House Inquiry.)

TVA said it will contract this year with a third party to conduct a Valley Decarbonization Study, which will analyze how it can further slash emissions. It also plans to build 10 GW of solar generation by 2035.