CargoAdmin, Bureaucrats, Moderators (CommentStreams), fileuploaders, Interface administrators, newuser, Push subscription managers, Suppressors, Administrators
14,662
edits
Tennessee Valley Authority: Difference between revisions
m
Text replacement - "Dwight D. Eisenhower" to "Dwight D. Eisenhower"
m (Text replacement - "Democrats" to "Democrats") |
m (Text replacement - "Dwight D. Eisenhower" to "Dwight D. Eisenhower") |
||
| Line 175: | Line 175: | ||
=== Increasing power demand === | === Increasing power demand === | ||
[[File:John Sevier Steam Plant - 1956.jpg|thumb|left|[[John Sevier Fossil Plant]] in [[Hawkins County, Tennessee]], {{circa|1956}}]] | [[File:John Sevier Steam Plant - 1956.jpg|thumb|left|[[John Sevier Fossil Plant]] in [[Hawkins County, Tennessee]], {{circa|1956}}]] | ||
By the end of World War II, TVA had completed a {{convert|650|mi|km|adj=on}} navigation channel the length of the Tennessee River and had become the nation's largest electricity supplier.{{sfn|Russell|1949|pp=23-24}} Even so, the demand for electricity was outstripping TVA's capacity to produce power from [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] dams, and so TVA began to construct additional coal-fired plants. Political interference kept TVA from securing additional federal appropriations to do so, so it sought the authority to issue bonds.{{sfn|Hargrove|Conkin|1983|pp=75-76}} Several of TVA's coal-fired plants, including [[Johnsonville Fossil Plant|Johnsonville]], [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant|Widows Creek]], [[Shawnee Fossil Plant|Shawnee]], [[Kingston Fossil Plant|Kingston]], [[Gallatin Fossil Plant|Gallatin]], and [[John Sevier Fossil Plant|John Sevier]], began operations in the 1950s.<ref name="slate">{{cite news |last=Gross |first=Daniel |date=October 2, 2015 |title=The Tennessee Valley Authority is closing coal plants, and that's huge |url=https://www.slate.com/business/2015/10/the-tennessee-valley-authority-is-closing-coal-plants-and-thats-huge. |work=Slate Magazine |access-date=January 7, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1955 coal surpassed hydroelectricity as TVA's top generating source.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tva.com/About-TVA/Our-History/The-1950s |title=The 1950s |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018 |website=tva.com |publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=January 7, 2019 |archive-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126030936/https://www.tva.com/About-TVA/Our-History/The-1950s |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 6, 1959, President | By the end of World War II, TVA had completed a {{convert|650|mi|km|adj=on}} navigation channel the length of the Tennessee River and had become the nation's largest electricity supplier.{{sfn|Russell|1949|pp=23-24}} Even so, the demand for electricity was outstripping TVA's capacity to produce power from [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] dams, and so TVA began to construct additional coal-fired plants. Political interference kept TVA from securing additional federal appropriations to do so, so it sought the authority to issue bonds.{{sfn|Hargrove|Conkin|1983|pp=75-76}} Several of TVA's coal-fired plants, including [[Johnsonville Fossil Plant|Johnsonville]], [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant|Widows Creek]], [[Shawnee Fossil Plant|Shawnee]], [[Kingston Fossil Plant|Kingston]], [[Gallatin Fossil Plant|Gallatin]], and [[John Sevier Fossil Plant|John Sevier]], began operations in the 1950s.<ref name="slate">{{cite news |last=Gross |first=Daniel |date=October 2, 2015 |title=The Tennessee Valley Authority is closing coal plants, and that's huge |url=https://www.slate.com/business/2015/10/the-tennessee-valley-authority-is-closing-coal-plants-and-thats-huge. |work=Slate Magazine |access-date=January 7, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1955 coal surpassed hydroelectricity as TVA's top generating source.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tva.com/About-TVA/Our-History/The-1950s |title=The 1950s |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018 |website=tva.com |publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=January 7, 2019 |archive-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126030936/https://www.tva.com/About-TVA/Our-History/The-1950s |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 6, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law an amendment to the TVA act, making the agency self-financing.<ref name="sentinel">{{cite news |date=May 11, 2008 |title=Snapshot of major events in TVA history |url=https://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/snapshot-of-major-events-in-tva-history-ep-411654928-359899091.html/?page=1 |work=The Knoxville News-Sentinel |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120194539/http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/snapshot-of-major-events-in-tva-history-ep-411654928-359899091.html/?page=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 1950s, TVA's generating capacity nearly quadrupled.<ref name=clemnelson/> | ||
The 1960s were years of further unprecedented economic growth in the Tennessee Valley. Capacity growth during this time slowed, but ultimately increased 56% between 1960 and 1970.<ref name=clemnelson/> To handle a projected future increase in electrical consumption, TVA began constructing 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines, the first of which was placed into service on May 15, 1965.<ref name=clemnelson/> Electric rates were among the nation's lowest during this time and stayed low as TVA brought larger, more efficient generating units into service. Plants completed during this time included [[Paradise Combined Cycle Plant#History|Paradise]], [[Bull Run Fossil Plant|Bull Run]], and [[Nickajack Dam]].<ref name=clemnelson/> Expecting the Valley's electric power needs to continue to grow, TVA began building [[nuclear power in the United States|nuclear power plant]]s in 1966 as a new source of power.<ref name="TVAtimeline">{{cite web |url=https://tva.com/75th/pdf/tva_timeline_by_year.pdf |title=TVA timeline by year |publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804060602/http://www.tva.com/75th/pdf/tva_timeline_by_year.pdf}}</ref> The following year, TVA began work on the construction of [[Tellico Dam]], which had been initially conceived in the 1930s and would later become its most controversial project.<ref name="medium">{{cite news |last=Morrissey |first=Connor |date=December 11, 2018 |title=The Tennessee Valley Authority: A Timeline of Controversy |url=https://medium.com/fall-2018-vt-intro-to-appalachian-studies/the-tennessee-valley-authority-a-timeline-of-controversy-b1a69df40a15 |work=[[Medium (website)|Medium]] |access-date=June 2, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726012057/https://medium.com/fall-2018-vt-intro-to-appalachian-studies/the-tennessee-valley-authority-a-timeline-of-controversy-b1a69df40a15 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rawls |first1=Wendell Jr. |title=Forgotten People of the Tellico Dam Fight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/11/archives/forgotten-people-of-the-tellico-dam-fight-right-of-eminent-domain.html |access-date=April 18, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=November 11, 1979 |page=1 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726020225/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/11/archives/forgotten-people-of-the-tellico-dam-fight-right-of-eminent-domain.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Telling the Story of Tellico: It's Complicated |url=https://www.tva.com/about-tva/our-history/built-for-the-people/telling-the-story-of-tellico-it-s-complicated |website=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=July 24, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616105923/https://www.tva.com/about-tva/our-history/built-for-the-people/telling-the-story-of-tellico-it-s-complicated}}</ref> | The 1960s were years of further unprecedented economic growth in the Tennessee Valley. Capacity growth during this time slowed, but ultimately increased 56% between 1960 and 1970.<ref name=clemnelson/> To handle a projected future increase in electrical consumption, TVA began constructing 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines, the first of which was placed into service on May 15, 1965.<ref name=clemnelson/> Electric rates were among the nation's lowest during this time and stayed low as TVA brought larger, more efficient generating units into service. Plants completed during this time included [[Paradise Combined Cycle Plant#History|Paradise]], [[Bull Run Fossil Plant|Bull Run]], and [[Nickajack Dam]].<ref name=clemnelson/> Expecting the Valley's electric power needs to continue to grow, TVA began building [[nuclear power in the United States|nuclear power plant]]s in 1966 as a new source of power.<ref name="TVAtimeline">{{cite web |url=https://tva.com/75th/pdf/tva_timeline_by_year.pdf |title=TVA timeline by year |publisher=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=August 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804060602/http://www.tva.com/75th/pdf/tva_timeline_by_year.pdf}}</ref> The following year, TVA began work on the construction of [[Tellico Dam]], which had been initially conceived in the 1930s and would later become its most controversial project.<ref name="medium">{{cite news |last=Morrissey |first=Connor |date=December 11, 2018 |title=The Tennessee Valley Authority: A Timeline of Controversy |url=https://medium.com/fall-2018-vt-intro-to-appalachian-studies/the-tennessee-valley-authority-a-timeline-of-controversy-b1a69df40a15 |work=[[Medium (website)|Medium]] |access-date=June 2, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726012057/https://medium.com/fall-2018-vt-intro-to-appalachian-studies/the-tennessee-valley-authority-a-timeline-of-controversy-b1a69df40a15 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rawls |first1=Wendell Jr. |title=Forgotten People of the Tellico Dam Fight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/11/archives/forgotten-people-of-the-tellico-dam-fight-right-of-eminent-domain.html |access-date=April 18, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=November 11, 1979 |page=1 |archive-date=July 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726020225/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/11/archives/forgotten-people-of-the-tellico-dam-fight-right-of-eminent-domain.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Telling the Story of Tellico: It's Complicated |url=https://www.tva.com/about-tva/our-history/built-for-the-people/telling-the-story-of-tellico-it-s-complicated |website=Tennessee Valley Authority |access-date=July 24, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616105923/https://www.tva.com/about-tva/our-history/built-for-the-people/telling-the-story-of-tellico-it-s-complicated}}</ref> | ||
| Line 219: | Line 219: | ||
However, it has been shown that in river policy, the strength of opposing interest groups also mattered.<ref name="Rural Sociology">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=Karen M. |title=Why the TVA Remains Unique: Interest Groups and the Defeat of New Deal River Planning |journal=[[Rural Sociology (journal)|Rural Sociology]] |date=June 2002 |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=163–182 |doi=10.1111/j.1549-0831.2002.tb00099.x |issn=0036-0112}}</ref> The TVA bill was able to attain passage because reformers like Norris skillfully coordinated action at potential choke points and weakened the already disorganized opponents among the electric power industry lobbyists.<ref name="hubbard" /> In 1936, after regrouping, opposing river lobbyists and members of congress who were part of the conservative coalition took advantage of the New Dealers' spending mood by expanding the Army Corps' flood control program. They also helped defeat further valley authorities, the most promising of the New Deal water policy reforms.<ref name="Rural Sociology"/> When Democrats after 1945 began proclaiming the Tennessee Valley Authority as a model for countries in the [[developing world]] to follow, conservative critics charged that it was a top-heavy, centralized, [[technocracy|technocratic]] venture that displaced locals and did so in insensitive ways. Thus, when the program was used as the basis for modernization programs in various parts of the third world during the [[Cold War]], such as in the [[Mekong Delta]] in [[Vietnam]], its failure brought a backlash of cynicism toward modernization programs that has persisted.<ref name="Ekbladh" /> | However, it has been shown that in river policy, the strength of opposing interest groups also mattered.<ref name="Rural Sociology">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=Karen M. |title=Why the TVA Remains Unique: Interest Groups and the Defeat of New Deal River Planning |journal=[[Rural Sociology (journal)|Rural Sociology]] |date=June 2002 |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=163–182 |doi=10.1111/j.1549-0831.2002.tb00099.x |issn=0036-0112}}</ref> The TVA bill was able to attain passage because reformers like Norris skillfully coordinated action at potential choke points and weakened the already disorganized opponents among the electric power industry lobbyists.<ref name="hubbard" /> In 1936, after regrouping, opposing river lobbyists and members of congress who were part of the conservative coalition took advantage of the New Dealers' spending mood by expanding the Army Corps' flood control program. They also helped defeat further valley authorities, the most promising of the New Deal water policy reforms.<ref name="Rural Sociology"/> When Democrats after 1945 began proclaiming the Tennessee Valley Authority as a model for countries in the [[developing world]] to follow, conservative critics charged that it was a top-heavy, centralized, [[technocracy|technocratic]] venture that displaced locals and did so in insensitive ways. Thus, when the program was used as the basis for modernization programs in various parts of the third world during the [[Cold War]], such as in the [[Mekong Delta]] in [[Vietnam]], its failure brought a backlash of cynicism toward modernization programs that has persisted.<ref name="Ekbladh" /> | ||
In 1953, President | In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to the TVA as an example of "creeping socialism".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=June 18, 1953 |title=Eisenhower Points to the T. V. A. As 'Creeping Socialism' Example |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/18/archives/eisenhower-points-to-the-t-v-a-as-creeping-socialism-example.html |page=1 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601163122/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/18/archives/eisenhower-points-to-the-t-v-a-as-creeping-socialism-example.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=facingsouth>{{cite news |last=Sturgis |first=Sue |date=April 16, 2013 |title=The strange politics of TVA privatization |url=https://www.facingsouth.org/2013/04/the-strange-politics-of-tva-privatization.html |work=Facing South |publisher=Institute for Southern Studies |location=Durham, North Carolina |access-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601163122/https://www.facingsouth.org/2013/04/the-strange-politics-of-tva-privatization.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The following year, then-film actor and later 40th President [[Ronald Reagan]] began hosting ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', which was sponsored by [[General Electric]] (GE). He was fired in 1962 after publicly referring to the TVA, which was a major customer for GE turbines, as one of the problems of "big government".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Liz |title=Ronald Reagan – In Memoriam: Biography |website=[[NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]] online |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/biography_pages/reagan/biography.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227074626/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/biography_pages/reagan/biography.html |archive-date=February 27, 2012 |quote=In 1962, GE, concerned that Reagan's conservative politics made him a liability, fired him for criticizing the Tennessee Valley Authority as an example of 'big government.'}}</ref> Some claim that Reagan was instead fired due to a criminal antitrust investigation involving him and the [[Screen Actors Guild]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weisberg |first1=Jacob |author-link1=Jacob Weisberg |title=The Road to Reagandom: How Reagan's eight-year gig as the host of General Electric Theater sparked his conservative conversion and became the genesis of his political career. |url=https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/01/ronald_reagan_s_conservative_conversion_as_spokesman_for_general_electric.2.html |access-date=March 19, 2018 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=January 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718063739/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/01/ronald_reagan_s_conservative_conversion_as_spokesman_for_general_electric.2.html |archive-date=July 18, 2017}}</ref> However, Reagan was only interviewed; nobody was actually charged with anything in the investigation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moldea |first1=Dan E. |author-link1=Dan E. Moldea |title=Ronald Reagan and his 1962 grand jury testimony |url=https://www.moldea.com/ReaganGJ.html |access-date=March 19, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 15, 1987 |archive-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208010416/http://www.moldea.com/ReaganGJ.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Inquiry Dealt With Suspected Payoffs by Conglomerate: Book Says Reagan Was Cleared in '60s Probe of MCA |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-21-mn-9247-story.html |access-date=March 19, 2018 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 21, 1986 |archive-date=June 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630050527/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-09-21/news/mn-9247_1_ronald-reagan |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1963, U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate [[Barry Goldwater]] was quoted in a ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' article by [[Stewart Alsop]] as saying, "You know, I think we ought to sell TVA." He had called for the sale to private companies of particular parts of the Authority, including its fertilizer production and steam-generation facilities, because "it would be better operated and would be of more benefit for more people if it were part of private industry."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Lee |author-link1=Lee Edwards |title=Goldwater: The man who made a revolution |date=1995 |publisher=Regnery |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-89526-471-8 |oclc=624456231 |url=https://archive.org/details/goldwater00leee}}</ref> Goldwater's quotation was used against him in a TV ad by [[Doyle Dane Bernbach]] for then-President Lyndon B. Johnson's [[Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 presidential campaign|1964 campaign]], which depicted an auction taking place atop a dam and promised that Johnson would not sell TVA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mark |first1=David |author-link1=David Mark (journalist) |title=Going dirty: The art of negative campaigning |url=https://archive.org/details/goingdirtyartneg00mark |url-access=limited |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=978-0-7425-9982-6 |oclc=396994651 |page=[https://archive.org/details/goingdirtyartneg00mark/page/n56 46]}}</ref> | ||
==== Legal challenges ==== | ==== Legal challenges ==== | ||