The nation's largest public utility is at risk of losing the ability to set spending, strategy and policy for the second time in as many years.
The governing board of the federal Tennessee Valley Authority is on track to lose two of its six members
in January: Art Graham, a Floridian who joined the board this year, and Bobby Klein, a Chattanoogan appointed to the board under former President Joe Biden.Both men's terms expired earlier this year, but the federal law that created TVA allows directors whose terms have expired to keep serving through the current congressional term.
President Donald Trump told the Senate in early 2026 he wants Graham to stay on the TVA board. He also renominated Tennessee car magnate and GOP donor Lee Beaman for a seat.
TVA board members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, which has taken no action in the past nine months to confirm Trump's picks.
The Senate has been out of session since early October and is set to spend just 22 days in November and December to address legislative business, including voting on nominations.
TVA only recently regained its board quorum
Without a vote from the Senate, the board will be back where it was for most of 2025: without a quorum and unable to address the regular business of a 10,000-person organization.
The board is responsible for greenlighting budgets, electric rates and policies at TVA, a nuclear utility that serves millions across a seven-state service region.
The board’s membership shrank through the spring and summer of 2025 as Trump fired several Biden appointees, leaving the board unable to vote for the longest period in its modern history.
Its quorum was restored in early January 2026 when Graham and three others were seated on the board following confirmations by the Senate.
The board lost another member the following month when Biden appointee Bill Renick of Mississippi resigned from his position as board chair.
The term of a third TVA director, Wade White of Kentucky, expires in May. White will be the only Biden appointee remaining on the board after January. Once he leaves, all three remaining members will be Trump picks.
Republican and Democratic representatives of the Senate committee that recommends TVA candidates for full consideration by the Senate did not respond to questions from Knox News. Neither did representatives for U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, both Republicans and Trump allies who in 2025 called for a new TVA board and CEO.
Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: If Senate doesn't act soon, TVA board could lose its ability to vote (again)
