TVA – Sen. Alexander says TVA can change own rules
March 18, 2009
More cities and towns are concerned about their sources of electricity. The TVA, blundering along, is about as unpredictable as a spring shower and never seems to come up smelling like a rose.
There’s this dam, you see, over in Greene County, TN that used to produce hydroelectricity but hasn’t done that since the 1970s. Edgy commissioners now want to try something different, something that may attract worldwide attention as a tourist attraction – a 75-foot waterwheel at the site, the world’s tallest, and to assure the community of a steady source of electric power.
It does seem a waste of available power, all that water over the dam that cannot be retrieved. It’s sort of like electricity itself. Once it has been produced it has to be used, can’t be stored efficiently. Same with water. Although it has the ability to be stored up to a point, water then just “goes over the dam”.
Water can be very powerful; witness the great havoc of hurricanes that push water around with great force. Eight pounds per gallon doesn’t seem like much until tons of it pour over a dam such as the Nolichucky which impounds Crockett Lake.
County Mayor Alan Broyles, according to the Greeneville Sun, believes there may be some “stimulus” funds from the federal government for the project. It could provide electricity for about 2,700 homes and would be a “renewable energy” project.
But there is one minor problem. TVA owns the dam and TVA's board passed a resolution in 1986 that said "no entity but TVA can use their hydroelectric properties to create electricity." (Oops, there goes another billion kilowatt dam!)
Enter Sen. Lamar Alexander, a supporter, when he was quoted earlier as saying "resolutions are written to be re-written." And that is especially true with the TVA. While we’re talking about TVA rules, here are a few that should be “re-written”.
· “Privatize” the Nolichucky Dam in Greene County!
The reasons are obvious.
· Immediately do away with the corruptible TVA bonus system. There have been many instances when production was maintained at the expense of safety and human health just to be eligible for a bonus.
· As federal employees, TVA should abide by federal employment rules. There is a plethora of them, enough still to pay a good Department of Labor wage rate.
· Revert TVA to a regular government agency status. There is no need for a “board of directors” or “CEO” rife with “hybridialized” corruption. The appropriate agency would be the Department of Energy, a logical choice.
· Prepare for the sale of the presently structured TVA production plants. The present board of directors and the CEO should resign. The TVA has not been well managed for a long time and is racking up debt far beyond its capability of repayment. Proceeds should be used to pay off as much of its present $25 billion debt as possible.
· In the interim, TVA should use “payments in lieu of taxes” money to incentivize ratepayers to reduce energy consumption. Presently, much of this money goes to slush funds to be manipulated for political purposes. The 8.8 million consumers generate the 5% of gross sales for these payments and they get none of it back directly. TVA payments for 2008 were nearly $455 million.
· TVA, as a regular departmental agency, should abide by present law which states what their actual role is, e.g., to provide for innovation in the production of fertilizer. See the TVA Act of 1933.
· Turn over the some 200,000 acres of unused TVA property to the General Services Administration for liquidation or public disposal. Enforce Executive Order 13406 which deals with the proper public disposal of government property.
· Return all laptop computers and VISA credit cards at once for possible re-issue under much more strict management controls.
Refer to the Greeneville Sun from which quotes from Sen. Alexander and others were derived.
http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/302055
Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net
http://norsworthyopinion.com