Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, delivered an opening statement at a hearing regarding nominations to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors. The nominees under consideration are Mitch Graves, Jeff Hagood, Randall Jones, and Arthur Graham.
Whitehouse began his remarks by addressing the topic of permitting reform. He stated that there is bipartisan interest in improving permitting processes but expressed concern about trust in the current administration’s willingness to implement reforms faithfully. "Why would we want to do bipartisan permitting reform during an administration that won’t faithfully execute that law, that can’t be trusted? Trust matters, and the Trump administration is busily destroying any hope of that trust, with unrelenting and often illegal assaults on clean energy projects," Whitehouse said.
He cited an incident involving a “stop work” order on a clean energy project near completion off Rhode Island’s coast. According to Whitehouse, this action was reversed in court after government lawyers changed their legal arguments abruptly. He also referenced the recent cancellation of environmental review for what he described as America’s largest solar energy project.
Whitehouse criticized what he called a pattern of targeting clean energy initiatives in both Democratic and Republican states and noted that permits had already been revoked for projects such as Idaho's Lava Wind project. He added, "On Monday, Secretary Burgum declared that he had no interest in including offshore wind in a permitting reform proposal. Well guess what? Unless these illegal acts stop and unless offshore wind is included, there will be no permitting deal. End of story."
The senator questioned whether Senate Republicans were maintaining their stated principles regarding government intervention and property rights: "Now you are mute while government is weaponized, picks winners and losers, illegally damages private interests... all because the picked winner is your friends in the fossil fuel industry?"
Whitehouse warned that shutting down lawful projects could have broader economic impacts by increasing costs across sectors: "‘Stop Work’ Trump’s interference in all these projects isn’t just putting thousands of hard-working Americans out of a job, it’s raising the cost of capital for all projects, even fossil fuel projects."
Turning to TVA governance issues, Whitehouse highlighted concerns about technological direction and board composition under recent administrative actions: "Trump has fired three Democratic Board members, upending the convention of a bipartisan TVA Board and depriving the Board of a quorum." He questioned whether political motives were influencing nominations: "It looks more like a slate of cronies nominated to do the President’s bidding and corrupt the organization they are supposed to serve; the classic pay-to-play political ‘spoils system’..."
Despite these criticisms, Whitehouse acknowledged some positive developments at TVA. In 2024, over half its electricity came from zero-carbon sources including nuclear power, hydroelectricity, and renewables. The utility has plans for 10 gigawatts of solar deployment by 2035 and has retired or announced retirement for most coal-fired generation units since 2019.
However, he raised concerns about nearly five gigawatts of new natural gas generation approved without carbon offset measures since 2019.
Whitehouse concluded by questioning whether any nominee would advocate for TVA customers rather than follow partisan directives: "Will any of the nominees before us advocate for TVA’s customers or will they roll over for Trump administration schemes to build or extend expensive, polluting fossil plants...?"
He warned against further politicization: "If this does not end in scandal, I will be very surprised."
