Tennessee faced a bitter, record-breaking snowfall, but here's how TVA kept the power on

The week of Jan. 14 brought record snow falls, bitter cold, and a historic demand for electricity. On Jan. 17, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) set a preliminary all-time, record peak of approximately 34,524 megawatts (MW).

This beat the previous record by more than 1,000 MW, last set in August 2007. For context, an average winter day in the region sees a peak of about 23,200 MW.

Meeting that demand took a village. I am extraordinarily proud that, working together, TVA and our local power company (LPC) partners kept everyone safe and warm.

Successfully meeting the all-time record peak is especially noteworthy because it is nearly 1,100 MW above the peak during Winter Storm Elliott.

I want to thank everyone who played a role, starting with you -- folks across the seven-state region who turned down the thermostat a degree or two or waited to run the dishwasher until later in the day. Without a doubt, those simple conservation measures helped protect the grid and keep the power on for everyone. Thank you.

I am also grateful to our 153 LPC partners who amplified our conservation message and coordinated closely with us. By keeping the lines of communication flowing, they were prepared to position their employees and take action to ensure reliability.

And finally, the 10,000 TVA employees across the region who relentlessly prepared for this storm and were there when it mattered. I’m grateful to our employees who staffed facilities and operations centers 24/7 and took calls in the middle of the night to address issues. Keeping the lights on is our job, but it’s important to acknowledge the efforts everyone, from linemen to plant operators, played in ensuring our neighbors had power during the extreme cold.

Diversification of power is more important than ever

This comes on top of the work TVA employees had undertaken to get ready for winter. After Winter Storm Elliot, we were committed to strengthening and hardening our system. In the last three months, TVA invested nearly $123 million to enhance reliability and resiliency at our coal, gas, and hydro facilities.

Throughout the fall, employees added insulation and enclosures around exposed equipment to prevent freezing and installed monitoring systems to help us be more responsive to potential issues. Last week, those investments paid off and kept assets operating.

Meeting an historic demand for electricity is a challenge, but changes in the region and across the nation intensify this task. Our region is growing three times faster than the national average. That means more people are moving here, more businesses are setting up shop, and there’s more demand for electricity.

We are also using more electricity to run our homes and manufacture goods. Since 2020, TVA’s load – the amount of electricity we need to provide – has risen 1,000 MWs. That’s equivalent to powering nearly half a million homes and we anticipate that growth continuing.

Economic growth and prosperity are foundational to our mission at TVA. So, this is an exciting challenge TVA is prepared to meet. However, there is not one perfect solution. For decades, we have relied on a diverse power system, but that diversification is more important now than ever. Extreme events, like last week’s weather, demonstrate that diversity in technology, geographic location, fuel source, operating characteristics, and more are the key to a reliable and resilient system.

The debate over what type of energy mix we have is healthy

Last year we added 1,500 MWs of cleaner, more reliable natural gas generation at sites in Alabama and Kentucky. These state-of-the-art units can ramp up to full capacity in 11 minutes, helping us meet exactly the kind of energy demand we saw last week.

We are also adding 10,000 MWs of solar energy across our system. On a sunny, summer day, solar can help us power the grid. But on a cold, winter morning, we need a reliable backup. As we work to meet the growing energy demand, TVA is relentlessly investing in new generation. This includes solar, gas, energy storage, nuclear, and other emerging technologies.

As we build this diverse set of assets, there is a range of strongly held views that advocate for one technology over another: only renewables; just energy efficiency; hydrogen over natural gas; continue with coal; why build this plant in my community.

The expression of these views is a healthy part of the process and contributes to good decision-making. And keeping our customers and stakeholders transparently informed and engaged is vital.

In 1933, James Agee wrote, “TVA’s work is indeed to be of, by, for the valley people.”

During the week of Jan. 15, that could not have been more true. Going forward, we hope you’ll continue to join us. Thank you to all our TVA employees, LPCs, and residents.

Jeff Lyash is president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Snowfall in Tennessee: Here's how TVA prepared and met the challenge