The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors discussed the power provider’s 3,770-megawatt construction program at Thursday’s board meeting.
According to a news release, the power generation construction program in progress is one of the largest generation projects in TVA history. The project is expected to meet rising power demands, and Senior Generation Vice President Allen Claire says they are already seeing increased power consumption as a result of high temperatures.
In the program, six power generation plants are receiving capacity upgrades. The Cumberland Fossil Plant in Stewart County, Tennessee, is receiving the highest upgrade of 1,450 megawatts of new power production.
Earlier this month, the TVA completed a test run of the new combined-cycle combustion turbines at the Cumberland campus and Claire says the facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
Along with keeping up with population growth, the increased power capacity will help the TVA meet the demands of the growing industrial base in its service region. While focusing on increasing power generation, Interim TVA President and CEO, Mike Skaggs says they will continue to work on power reliability, environmental stewardship and economic development.
At the meeting, TVA Chief Financial Officer Tom Rice reported that the power provider has had a strong financial performance so far in 2026.