Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Jeffrey Lyash said Friday he plans to step down by Sept. 30, leaving a mixed legacy of stewardship during a period of rising demand, shifting energy resources and political turbulence.
During his six years leading the largest public power company, the TVA board held wholesale rates steady before imposing base rate increases in recent years to pay for more power plants. TVA power prices are still low compared to other parts of the country.
But customers in 2022 experienced the first rolling blackouts in the utility’s 92-year history. And the utility increased its use of natural gas, even as the policy of the federal government aimed to ratchet down carbon dioxide emissions. Under Lyash, TVA also renewed its interest in adding more nuclear power to the mix.
Almost every administration has tangled with the idea of privatizing TVA. Even so, the power producer whose place in history is that of a New Deal success story has managed, for the most part, to operate without much political meddling. To a degree, that changed in 2020 when President Donald Trump criticized Lyash’s $8 million salary and TVA’s decision to outsource 100 technology jobs.