Blackburn, Hagerty praise Trump's 'decisive' TVA firings and plan to confirm new board

• In a joint statement, U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee praised President Trump's "decisive actions" to fire TVA board members.
• The firings came after the senators criticized Biden-appointed board members in a joint op-ed.
• Though the president nominates board members and the Senate confirms them, they historically have not turned over at the beginning of an administration.
• New board members could do more to accelerate the pace of new nuclear development at TVA, the senators said.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty told Knox News the Trump administration's firings of two members of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors will provide space for the Senate to confirm new board members who will bolster Tennessee's effort to lead on nuclear energy.

A spokesperson for Sen. Blackburn sent a joint statement from the two senators in an email to Knox News on April 2, one day after Trump directed the firing of TVA Board Chair Joe Ritch.

“We share the Trump administration’s commitment to the long-term future of the Valley and will work together to ensure the TVA is fulfilling its potential. TVA requires bold and competent leadership to keep America at the cutting edge of energy innovation. The Trump administration’s decisive actions to shake up the status quo at the TVA will allow us to confirm new board members who will champion the future of Tennessee’s energy needs and ensure our state leads the way in nuclear energy. We can’t let this moment pass us by," Blackburn and Hagerty said in the statement.

The senators play a large role in recommending members for the Trump administration to nominate to the board, which governs the Knoxville-based federal utility.

The U.S. Senate confirms new board members, but the process can take months or years as a low priority for elected officials outside the seven-state Tennessee Valley, where TVA sells electricity to 10 million people and manages the river system. Republicans control the Senate with 53 seats.

There were six board members, all nominated by President Joe Biden, before Trump fired Michelle Moore of Virginia and Ritch of Alabama. The remaining four Biden appointees do not constitute a quorum to conduct business and cannot approve new policies or programs.

The senators did not say when they would recommend new board members or when the board members could be confirmed. The Senate often waits until the end of the session of Congress, when board members whose five-year terms have expired must leave the board, though the current session does not end until January 2027.

Trump has not commented publicly about the terminations from the TVA Board and his administration has not nominated new board members. He took the extraordinary measure of firing two TVA board members in his first term over the utility's decision to outsource IT jobs to companies with overseas workforces, and the utility later reversed the decision.

Board members typically serve under multiple presidents, making the niche governing body traditionally insulated from turnover when a new administration takes office.

Blackburn, Hagerty want nuclear focus for TVA board

Blackburn and Hagerty laid out a vision for a new board at TVA in an op-ed published March 20 in POWER Magazine, in which they argued the current board had "fallen victim to paralysis by analysis" on new nuclear technologies and was too focused on diversity of TVA executives.

"The presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed, TVA Board of Directors lacks the talent, experience, and gravitas to meet a challenge that clearly requires visionary industrial leaders. The group looks more like a collection of political operatives than visionary industrial leaders," they wrote.

Tennessee has become a hub of new nuclear development, thanks largely to TVA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which form a powerful trifecta for nuclear research and operations. Gov. Bill Lee set aside millions for a state nuclear fund and formed a nuclear energy advisory council in 2023.

The senators also called for an interim CEO trusted by Trump who could fast track development of small modular reactors at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge. Small modular reactors have potential to be built faster and more frugally than traditional large nuclear plants, and they can be located flexibly depending on power needs. 

TVA's design would produce about one-third the electricity of a large nuclear reactor.

The technology, which has never been built in the U.S., must go through a lengthy licensing process with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. TVA secured the first early site permit for the technology in 2019 and the board has allocated $350 million for the project.

The utility plans to submit a construction permit application for a 300-megawatt small modular reactor this year, but Blackburn and Hagerty called for the utility to "immediately file" the application.

Before the Trump administration fired the two board members, the board selected TVA Chief Operating Officer Don Moul as the utility's next president and CEO. The current CEO, Jeff Lyash, announced in January his plan to retire this year as soon as the board selected a successor.

TVA announced Moul's selection on March 31, and he starts the job April 9. As chief operating officer, Moul has overseen TVA's seven nuclear reactors at three plants in Tennessee and Alabama.

Blackburn and Hagerty criticized the board for hiring what they called a "tiny headhunter firm" to quickly choose the next CEO from inside the organization. The senators did not answer a question Knox News asked about their reaction to the board's hiring of Moul.

The board conducted an external and internal search to avoid the appearance of a predestined internal hire, Moul told Knox News in an interview, though he said he was brought on as chief operating officer in 2021 in part to "make a deeper bench of CEO succession candidates."

Moul, who sits on Lee's nuclear council, has decades of experience in the nuclear industry and said the new technologies would be a focus of his tenure.

"I know that nuclear is the vital part of our energy security, of our economic future," Moul said. "I grew up in the nuclear industry, so it's ingrained in me."

Small modular reactors could be located by manufacturing plants or AI data centers to power technological innovation, but would also generate enough electricity each to power about 175,000 homes. TVA executives visited the Clinch River Nuclear Site with Hagerty and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in February.

Are you a current or former federal employee with a story to tell? Contact Daniel Dassow, a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy, at daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com or on Signal @danieldassow.24.

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