TVA’s new secret organization underway
September 1, 2009
In typical TVA fashion, a new “panel” of TVA advisors has been assembled; but to contact them you must go through TVA first.
It’s called the Stakeholder Review Group, SRG, and it is set up eerily like the start of a new TVA Board of Directors.
They meet in secret sessions that are not open or available to the public and membership is diverse. Most names are recognizable by their agendas.
It even includes a lobbying firm, Tennessee Valley Industrial Committee. Their lobbying activities for 2008 amounted to $40,000 in expenditures for “utilities”.
The 14 SRG members come mostly from Tennessee; three members coming from Montgomery, Alabama, Frankfort, Kentucky, and Trinity, Alabama. This is no small budget committee.
Their meeting in Nashville on July 29 at the Willis Conference Center has to be considered posh. The meeting ran from 10 am until 2 pm and one topic was “Travel Reimbursement”. What was noticeable for their absence was any representative from Congress or from the people. It is the latter who will be most affected by any policy shifts by the TVA.
The very first item on “Operating Rules” covered who could attend:
“One staff member may accompany a member to a SRG working group meeting. Two staff members may accompany SRG members to a designated ‘workshop’.”
It is easily seen that a hefty tab can be run up with just one meeting. They said they will be meeting often and obviously in secret. Action items:
1. TVA will develop a password protected website for SRG member use.
2. TVA will draft the ground rules based on the SRG conversation and circulate those to the SRG prior to the next meeting.
3. TVA will provide a general confidentiality agreement for SRG members.
4. TVA will provide an address (both post and email) on its IRP (Integrated Resource Plan) website providing a place for members of the general public to submit comments to the SRG. (Note: All public responses go to TVA first. My comment)
What does TVA have to hide? If it is so important, they could spell out the “what” and “why” of it without divulging any secrets. Minutes approved on August 18, 2009 gave a schedule for the next meeting.
“Further details on the IRP process, public comments received, and the IRP scenarios/world development will be agenda items for the next meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET, at the Knoxville TVA Towers, the West Tower auditorium.”
That language is a bit scary when it includes “world development”. Where are they trying to go with this thing?
There is no record on TVA’s website that this meeting was ever held, however, since this is a secret organization, it should not be a big surprise.
And it may come as a big surprise to the real “stakeholders”, the 8 million who pay for TVA electricity, that they have been shut out of TVA’s secret organization with no idea of how their pocketbooks may be affected.
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
http://norsworthyopinion.com