Chairman Richard Glick Statement
October 21, 2021
Docket Nos. EL21-40-000, TX21-1-000
I support today’s order exercising the Commission’s discretion under section 211A of the Federal Power Act[1] by declining to order the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide unbundled transmission service to a group of not-for-profit municipal and cooperative distribution utilities located in TVA’s service territory. Simply put, I do not believe that Congress intended to give this Commission the authority to ignore the “TVA Fence”—the non-physical boundary Congress placed around TVA’s service territory in 1959[2]—when it enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Much has happened since 1959 and the grid has evolved in many ways since Congress established the TVA Fence. In my view, the Fence is a vestige of a bygone era and the region, and particularly its ratepayers, would be far better served by having access to alternative power supplies on a competitive and non-discriminatory basis. The benefits of competition and consumer choice far outweigh whatever benefits the region once derived from the current model. Accordingly, I urge Congress to consider enacting legislation to eliminate the Fence and enable utilities in the region to access alternative sources of supply and likewise to allow TVA to make wholesale sales to new customers.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
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Richard Glick
Chairman