{"id":624666,"date":"2026-06-25T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=624666"},"modified":"2026-06-25T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:00:00","slug":"tennessee-considers-up-to-26-gw-of-gas-fired-generation-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=624666","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Considers Up To 26 GW Of Gas-Fired Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennessee Considers Up To 26 GW Of Gas-Fired Generation<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive<\/em><\/p>\n

The Tennessee Valley Authority released its preliminary 2026 integrated resource plan<\/a> on Monday, saying load growth in its footprint<\/a>\u00a0is already outpacing the reference case forecast in its draft IRP, and that it has incremental capacity needs for between 7 GW and 26 GW of natural gas between now and 2040.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTVA\u2019s actual and forecasted electricity demand has increased relative to the draft IRP\u2019s Reference scenario and is approaching the Higher Growth Economy scenario primarily due to data center growth (e.g., artificial intelligence, hyperscaler, etc.),\u201d <\/strong>the IRP said. The higher growth scenario \u201cevaluates a higher gas price environment driven by substantial economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federally-owned utility also plans to add up to 5 GW of nuclear, 1-5 GW of storage, 2-5 GW of renewables (1-8 GW nameplate)\u00a0and 2-3 GW of energy efficiency and demand response additions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew capacity is needed in all scenarios to support load growth or replace expiring and end of life capacity,\u201d the IRP said.<\/p>\n

TVA said that gas expansion is necessary to provide \u201cfirm, dispatchable capacity,\u201d while new nuclear technologies \u201csupport load growth and reduce fuel volatility and regulatory risks\u201d and solar expansion can play a \u201ccomplementary role, meeting customer needs and providing economic energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStorage expansion continues, driven by both battery storage and the potential for additional pumped storage,\u201d TVA said. \u201cEnergy efficiency deployment reduces energy needs, particularly between now and 2040, and demand response programs grow with the system and the use of smart technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

TVA will take public comment on the preliminary final IRP until July 22, and will hold a public webinar on July 2 to discuss the plan. Final recommendations will be shared at the TVA Board meeting in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The IRP noted that the region has \u201crecently experienced extreme winter temperatures in each of the last few years,\u201d with a new winter peak record of 35,319 MW being set in January 2025, and for the 2026 IRP the utility used a 26% planning reserve margin target for winter, compared to its 18% planning reserve margin target for summer.<\/p>\n

TVA established three potential strategies in the IRP: Strategy A, which sticks with TVA\u2019s baseline and relies heavily on natural gas generation; Strategy B, which embraces technological innovation and nuclear expansion in particular; and Strategy C, which focuses on distributed energy and would increase renewables and storage.<\/p>\n

Strategy A\u2019s higher reliance on natural gas means it has a \u201chigher financial risk exposure than alternative strategies,\u201d while Strategy B is the most expensive overall, and Strategy C \u201cincreases the risk of unserved energy or energy curtailment,\u201d TVA said.<\/p>\n

The IRP recommends the utility \u201cpursue solar to reduce total system costs or meet customer needs,\u201d but \u201csuspend wind additions given cost and portfolio fit challenges.\u201d It also recommends investment in TVA\u2019s hydro and nuclear fleets and pursuing \u201cnuclear license extensions to maintain low-cost generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the IRP\u2019s high growth forecast, the scenario which the region is edging closer to, nuclear capacity growth is the highest due in part to increases in the natural gas price forecast.<\/p>\n

TVA noted changes in U.S. energy policy since its 2025 IRP, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act\u2019s curtailment of the investment tax credits available to renewable projects, and the Trump administration\u2019s focus on coal and gas generation.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has pushed for TVA to turn back toward coal<\/a>, and fired three Biden appointees from the TVA board in July after the board authorized the retirement of coal units at TVA\u2019s Cumberland and Kingston power plants so natural gas could be developed there. After Trump appointed three replacements to the board, the board voted to operate Cumberland and Kingston\u2019s coal plants past their retirement dates.<\/p>\n

In the IRP, TVA\u2019s forecast for coal involves the \u201ccontinuing operation of [its] coal fleet, subject to regulatory requirements, as an immediate, cost-effective option to reduce total system cost and system reliability risk.\u201d Through 2040, TVA will \u201cevaluate [the] existing fleet, as needed, considering material condition, system reliability, system cost, regulatory requirements, and replacement generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 06\/24\/2026 – 22:00<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tennessee Considers Up To 26 GW Of Gas-Fired Generation By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive The Tennessee Valley Authority released its preliminary 2026 integrated resource plan on Monday, saying load growth in its footprint\u00a0is already outpacing the reference case forecast in its draft IRP, and that it has incremental capacity needs for between 7 GW and… Continue reading Tennessee Considers Up To 26 GW Of Gas-Fired Generation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":624648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-624666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=624666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/624648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=624666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=624666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=624666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}