Press Mention E&E News September 12, 2021
Topical Mention
Lawsuit: TVA illegally backed fossil fuel lobbyists
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Environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority, alleging that TVA illegally used customer money to fund industry trade associations that lobby against clean energy transition. The groups argue that TVA's donations to organizations like the Edison Electric Institute and Nuclear Energy Institute violate the utility's congressional mandate and customers' First Amendment rights.
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Lawsuit: TVA illegally backed fossil fuel lobbyists
By:
Kristi E. Swartz
| 09/13/2021 07:27 AM EDT
ENERGYWIRE | Several environmental groups sued the Tennessee Valley Authority last week for allegedly using customer money to finance industry organizations that the groups say have lobbied to slow the nation's clean energy transition.
The green groups claimed that TVA's donations to nationwide trade associations such as the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) go against the public utility's congressional mandate to protect the health and welfare of Tennessee Valley residents. Also, TVA's use of customer money to pay for the contributions violated the customers' First Amendment rights, the organizations argued.
"As the nation's largest public power provider and a federal agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority needs to demonstrate leadership by halting the financing of groups propping up the fossil fuel economy," said Howard Crystal, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity's Energy Justice program. "Instead, it funds these groups to do its dirty work while it moves forward with building new fossil gas plants. TVA can and must do better."