The Trump administration is seemingly targeting the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for privatization, threatening to undo its founding mission as the nation’s largest federally controlled power provider with a mandate to pursue conservation and economic development. While TVA continues work to license a GE Vernova BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at the Clinch River site in Tennessee, leadership shake-ups by the White House have left the utility without a quorum, stalling a final investment decision (FID) on the SMR project alongside broader capital commitments tied to President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda, including new nuclear projects beyond Clinch River.
“If anything, the lack of a TVA board quorum is hindering America's leadership in a national nuclear renaissance,” Cortney Piper, executive director of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council, told Energy Intelligence. “Our country, led by the state of Tennessee, has the opportunity to lead in nuclear energy. That includes getting an SMR in the ground in Clinch River. It includes leading on several other advanced next-generation nuclear technologies.”
TVA’s board has lacked the required quorum — for five of its nine seats being filled — since the White House dismissed board members Michelle Moore and Joe Ritch in late March 2025, followed by its dismissal of board member Beth Geer in early June. These dismissals were on top of Trump administration efforts to undermine TVA’s CEO. After former CEO Joe Lyash — amid criticism from Trump — announced his resignation on Jan. 31, the TVA board promoted former COO Don Moul to CEO on Mar. 31. But in mid-July, anonymous sources told The Atlantic that the White House demanded the board fire Moul or prepare to be fired themselves. The Trump administration, meanwhile, nominated five new board members. Once in place, these Trump picks would not only have a majority, but they could form their own quorum. Those nominations require approval in the US Senate, which could take months.
