Tennessee Valley Authority accused of funding ‘dirty energy lobbyists’

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (CN) — In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, a coalition of environmental conservation groups are seeking to force the Tennessee Valley Authority to address a petition to regulate the agency’s spending, alleging the public utility funds “dirty energy lobbyists” with customer money.

The coalition, headed up by the Center for Biological Diversity, sifted through TVA’s financial and other public records and counted hundreds of third-party organizations, such as the Edison Electric Institute, that receive TVA dollars.

Those organizations, the conservationists say, “routinely make political donations, engage in legislative lobbying, pursue controversial litigation, and pursue other forms of political advocacy that promote fossil fuel interests, stifle renewable energy development, and negatively impact the environmental health of the Tennessee Valley’s residents.”

TVA declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, as it had not yet been served Thursday afternoon, spokesperson Scott Fiedler said.

But, since TVA is a federal agency, it is prohibited from participating in lobbying activities, he said, “and the TVA Board has directed that any dues, membership fees, or financial contributions paid to external organizations not be used for purposes inconsistent with TVA’s statutory mission or legal obligations.”

“Like other major utilities, TVA’s membership in a diverse array of external organizations allows TVA access to specialized expertise and analysis that directly benefits all of our customers at a cost significantly lower than if TVA were to undertake such work alone,” Fiedler added.

According to the conservationists, utility regulatory groups, such as the Utility Water Act Group and the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, are among the organizations getting TVA money. Those groups have objected to the Environmental Protection Agency’s limits on toxic wastewater discharges from power plants and criticizing an EPA regulation — promulgated partly in response to a toxic TVA spill — designed to ensure safe disposal of coal ash from power plants.

“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.”

In a press release, the Center for Biological Diversity said TVA is funding "dirty energy lobbyists" who are trying to "delay the critical transition to clean energy."

At the heart of Thursday’s lawsuit filed in Knoxville federal court is a rulemaking petition the conservationists sent to TVA in February 2020. It asked the agency to stop giving “millions of dollars” in ratepayer money to anti-environmental advocacy groups through membership dues, fees and other donations. At least a portion of some of those membership dues cover “influencing legislation,” according to invoices obtained by the groups and attached to the petition.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process by which federal agencies develop regulations, any interested person has the right to petition for a regulation.

In their petition, the environmental groups proposed a regulation stating that “no TVA funds may be paid to a third party organization” that engages in litigation related to agency regulations or other governmental activities; influences or attempts to influence legislative executive action, including policy research to support such efforts; or makes political contributions.

 The petition also argued that TVA is “violating its customers’ First Amendment rights by forcing them to fund these groups.”

Three months later, according to the environmental groups, TVA responded, simply asserting that its funding for the third-party groups is appropriate.

If the agency denies the petition, it is required to give notice of the denial and a “reasonable explanation for the agency’s decision,” according to the law.

Because TVA’s response didn’t address the evidence or the arguments presented in the petition, the agency’s response is “arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the APA,” the groups argue in Thursday’s lawsuit.

The conservationists are asking a judge to declare TVA is in violation of the APA and order it to provide a meaningful response to the petition.

"“TVA’s letter fails to acknowledge the lobbying and other advocacy activities of third-party groups that TVA financially supports,” the complaint states. “TVA’s letter further fails to address whether TVA’s support for groups engaged in these advocacy activities in consistent with TVA’s statutory mission.”

The legal action is part of a larger movement against the “longstanding practice of allowing utilities to charge ratepayers for advocacy that serves the utility’s own interests rather than ratepayers,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity. In Kentucky, state utility regulators blocked the recovery of dues to the Edison Electric Institute from its customers. And a new bill in New York prevents utilities from recovering payments to trade groups engaged in lobbying.

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