TVA board member fired at the direction of President Trump

TVA board member fired at the direction of President Trump

President Donald Trump directed the firing of TVA board member Michelle Moore.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee Valley Authority board member was fired at the direction of President Donald Trump, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission report published Friday.

TVA board member Michelle Moore's appointment to the board ended Thursday, according to the report. According to a press release from TVA in January 2023, Moore was nominated to the board by former President Joe Biden in January 2022. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21, 2022. Her term was expected to expire on May 18, 2026.

Moore's firing comes a week after two Tennessee senators wrote an op-ed criticizing TVA leadership, in which the Republican senators said they believed leadership at TVA would not be able to rise to meet expectations in nuclear technology and called on Trump to "rescue TVA from itself."

The op-ed was published in "Power Magazine," an outlet that focuses on electricity systems and energy news. In it, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty said TVA is "facing a historic moment that could decide our nation's energy security for decades to come" as the country's largest public power company works toward constructing what could be the nation's first commercial small modular reactor.

A senior energy justice campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity called the decision "ludicrous" and "leaves our country's largest federal utility in a precarious position."

"Ten million people rely on TVA to keep the lights on, utility bills low, and for good-paying jobs," said Gaby Sarri-Tobar, senior energy justice campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Trump's reckless and politically targeted move will cripple the utility's chances to secure a safe, resilient and affordable energy future for families and workers in the Valley."

The executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy also provided a statement in support of Moore.

"We're disappointed to see President Trump's hyper-partisan action of removing a sitting TVA board member for no reason," Dr. Stephen Smith said. "This action further weakens TVA's leadership and sets into motion actions that could have significant financial impact on TVA ratepayers across the region. As shared in SACE's statement about the TN senators who are asking TVA to ignore a proper financial review and analysis of unproven technologies, SACE believes that it's inappropriate for the President or the senators to try to micromanage TVA's decisions on energy choices across the region."

10News also reached out to TVA for comment and a spokesman provided the following:

"The TVA Board serves at the pleasure of the president. The president appoints Board members, and the U.S. Senate confirms them."

Moore is the CEO of Groundswell, a nonprofit that builds community power through community solar projects and other clean energy programs to make local communities more resilient.

In her biography on the Groundwell website, one of her accomplishments included "cutting the government's energy bill by $11 billion and deploying 3.2 gigawatts of renewable energy for President Obama."

Moore is also the author of "Rural Renaissance: Revitalizing America's Hometowns Through Clean Power."