Tennessee Valley Authority officials spotlighted the financial results of the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 and discussed the importance of coal and investing in small modular reactors at a recent meeting.
For the second quarter, the TVA reported $6.5 billion in operating revenues on 81 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity for six months ending March 31. The operating revenues show a 9% increase over the revenue last year during the same period.
Recently, the TVA has been looking into ways to increase power production in their coverage region, and at the meeting, officials shared that they have 5,500 megawatts of new firm dispatchable generation being constructed or under evaluation for construction. The power provided has also added around 1,400 megawatts of generation to the Paradise Power Plant in Drakesboro.
TVA CEO Don Moul says the coverage region is in a period of substantial growth resulting in higher demand, so they are working on investing in power reliability.
Coal has become a recent topic when President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April promoting the use of coal for energy production. Moul says the TVA has invested in coal scrubbers which decrease pollution, officials are evaluating coal plants for any possible updates ahead of summer energy demands.
Turning toward cleaner avenues of energy production, Moul says they are investing in the establishment of small modular nuclear reactors. Moul says they have submitted a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sharing their intent to file a construction permit for the establishment of BWRX-300 small modular reactors.
For the second quarter, 46% of TVA’s power supply was carbon-free, and the power provider is working toward having net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.