TVA’s plans for a methane gas plant in Cheatham County reveal a troubling pattern of secrecy, insider deals, and disregard for community input. This blog explores how these actions are eroding public trust and why residents across the Tennessee Valley need to fight for transparency and accountability from their public utility.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was established to serve the people of the Tennessee Valley and uplift communities with affordable, reliable power, a mission that has fostered community trust for decades. However, recent developments surrounding a proposed methane gas plant in Cheatham County have exposed TVA’s troubling pattern of secrecy, backroom deals, and an ongoing disregard for public accountability. This story shows how TVA’s actions are eroding trust in Cheatham County and beyond—and why residents are rightfully demanding better.

TVA’s Authority Shift: Unchecked Power in CEO Hands

Unlike private companies, TVA is a unique public utility that isn’t subject to state utility commission oversight. The TVA Board of Directors acts as its only regulatory authority. However, in a move that has alarmed many, the Board delegated its powers to approve or deny large capital projects to TVA CEO Jeff Lyash. This shift means that Lyash alone has the authority to approve certain large-scale projects, like the Cheatham County methane gas plant, without formal Board input or approval. For a public utility, such unchecked authority in a single executive’s hands is a troubling departure from TVA’s democratic mandate to serve the interests of the Valley’s residents.

Adding to these concerns, the November 7 TVA Board meeting agenda contained several items that raised hopes for increased oversight and community protection. These agenda points included discussions of a “Natural Gas Transportation Capacity Contract,” “Incentive Metrics,” and a potential revision to the Board’s role in “Capital Project Approvals” — topics which sparked speculation that the Board might rein in CEO powers over capital projects and reintroduce checks on new development decisions. Yet, to the surprise of many, the Board skipped this agenda section without explanation, leaving these critical issues unaddressed.

The recent shift in TVA’s approval process, granting unchecked power to the CEO, raises serious questions about the organization’s commitment to public accountability. For residents in Cheatham County and every community in the Tennessee Valley, this situation is a reminder of the importance of demanding transparency from those in power. Ultimately, every community deserves honesty from TVA — not just empty promises and secret deals.

Early Assurances and Broken Promises

In September 2020, TVA spokesperson Scott Fiedler was quoted in the Cheatham County Exchange stating there were “no specific plans” for a property TVA had quietly acquired. Just weeks later, TVA reiterated this message to The Tennessean, claiming no clear vision for the property and suggesting it could be years before any plans materialized. But documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed that TVA had commissioned an archaeological survey of the land as early as July 2020. The survey specifically referenced an “anticipated power plant,” exposing that TVA had plans for the property long before their public denials. Despite telling the community that no plans existed, TVA had already begun laying the groundwork. This revelation left Cheatham County residents questioning TVA’s integrity and wondering what else might be hidden.

More Than A Coincidence: Convenient Connections and Insider Bias

One of the murkiest parts of the Cheatham County project is how TVA acquired the land. Officially, the property wasn’t on the market. Yet TVA managed to secure it with remarkable speed and precision. At the time, while TVA was not in communication with the community or local elected officials, TVA was coordinating directly with the Cheatham County Economic and Community Development (ECD) Director, who recently retired from TVA himself, where he worked in an economic development role. His TVA connections raise significant questions. As a former insider, he would have had unique knowledge of TVA’s needs and operations, and his proximity to both TVA and Cheatham County’s development planning seems more than coincidental. Interestingly, the ECD Director was quoted in articles early in the project’s timeline stating that TVA would likely use the property for solar power to support Middle Tennessee’s tech industry—an idea that resonated with residents and would have aligned with TVA’s stated commitment to clean energy. Yet, instead of the solar farm, residents were blindsided with plans for a massive 75-acre methane gas plant, with far-reaching environmental and health implications.

This arrangement raises concerns over whether or not local communities have their interests ignored in favor of the interests of TVA by former TVA insiders with deep institutional biases.

Secret Deals with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company

The mystery deepened when another FOIA request revealed that TVA signed an agreement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) for TGP to perform “discreet due diligence” in preliminary work for the gas pipeline to supply the proposed power plant. The contract spelled out in multiple ways that local residents should be kept in the dark. For example, “TGP shall not discuss the project with public stakeholders and shall take reasonable care to maintain confidentiality during its due diligence efforts” and “The Parties agree to keep the Cheatham County Project, including the Work and the fact that TGP may be, or has been, participating in discussions with TVA regarding the Cheatham County Project confidential…”

The timing of the contract reveals another way that TVA has kept us in the dark. As I’ve written about before, TVA failed to let essentially anyone in the local community know that they were proposing to build a methane gas plant. Not one person from TVA reached out to the County Mayor, members of the County Commission, or even adjoining and adjacent landowners to inform them of their plans to build the plant. It wasn’t until a representative of an environmental group who was monitoring arcane documents on the Federal Register contacted me that any of us were aware that TVA was going to be hosting an informational open house just a few days later. That open house, hosted June 21, 2023, was the first that any of our county leaders heard from TVA about the gas plant.  

That same day, June 21, 2023, TVA signed the agreement with TGP, which raises serious concerns. Why did TVA wait until the last possible moment to inform the community about the plant while privately advancing deals with TGP? It appears TVA was moving forward with its plans behind closed doors while keeping the community in the dark.

Ignoring Infrastructure and Environmental Concerns

Cheatham County residents have repeatedly expressed concern over the strain a project of this scale would place on local infrastructure, particularly the narrow roads and aging bridges that won’t support the heavy machinery TVA will need to build the plant. TVA largely ignored these warnings and a roads survey — obtained not through TVA, but independently — confirmed that extensive road and bridge widening would be required to build the gas plant. This would mean additional land seizures from residents, even beyond those already contemplated for gas pipelines and power transmission lines, and potential environmental damage to the rural landscape. Yet, TVA’s decision-makers are disregarding these realities in their bull-headed pursuit of building this plant, further showing a lack of respect for local residents’ concerns about our infrastructure and environment.

Additionally, Cheatham County’s dense woodlands and rich wildlife habitats are rare assets in Middle Tennessee, but TVA would clear thousands of acres for 45 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines to support a gas plant that doesn’t move TVA closer to a cleaner grid. The environmental toll of clear-cutting these woodlands and eliminating managed timberlands is enormous, permanently altering the area’s hills, hollows, and habitats. Recently, TVA has been pressuring landowners to allow survey access for these transmission lines. Some landowners, concerned about TVA’s overreach, filed formal objections in court to protect their properties. Yet, TVA’s surveyors nonetheless entered these properties without consent—a blatant disregard for both property rights and constitutional protections.

Purchasing Equipment Before Due Diligence

In a move that stunned many, TVA Chief Operating Officer Don Moul revealed during a recent Board meeting in Florence, AL, that TVA is already purchasing turbines and other equipment for the proposed Cheatham County plant. This announcement comes despite incomplete key reviews and approvals required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As a federal agency, TVA is required to adhere to NEPA’s mandate to “assess the environmental effects of proposed major Federal actions prior to making decisions” such as the construction of a new power plant, especially in a location that appears ill-suited for such a project. However, TVA appears to have bypassed critical steps in this process, signaling a premature decision to proceed with the plant. For many local residents, Moul’s statement confirmed their fears: TVA has effectively predetermined its course of action, sidelining any economic analysis, environmental considerations, or public input that might emerge through the NEPA review. This pre-commitment raises serious questions about TVA’s commitment to public engagement, environmental stewardship, and transparency, as the agency is purchasing equipment for a project that is still officially “under review.” 

“Community Engagement” in Name Only

TVA repeatedly insists it values community engagement and won’t impose projects where they’re not wanted. But Cheatham County residents have experienced the opposite. When residents and elected officials, who have passed resolutions opposed to the plant, have stood before TVA representatives, detailing concerns about infrastructure, environmental degradation, and transparency, they have been met with vague responses or outright dismissals. Every warning voiced by the community has been disregarded, and every promise of transparency has been broken. 

TVA’s Erosion of Public Trust

The situation in Cheatham County is more than just a dispute over a power plant. It’s a case study of how a public institution can lose the trust of the people it serves. TVA’s disregard for local voices, their lack of transparency and secret agreements, and aggressive project advancement are clear indicators of a utility failing the people it serves.

TVA’s recent shift in oversight—granting CEO Jeff Lyash unchecked authority over project approvals—further highlights the need for public vigilance. TVA has failed in its responsibility to serve the community openly and honestly. Cheatham County deserves more than an agency that talks about transparency but acts in secrecy.

The Way Forward

If TVA wants to restore any sense of trust, it must halt the Cheatham County project, engage openly with the residents, and genuinely consider sustainable alternatives. Public trust is earned, not assumed, and TVA has squandered it with each backroom deal and unapproved trespass. The people of Cheatham County, and the entire Tennessee Valley, deserve a TVA that is transparent, accountable, and respectful of the communities it serves. Only by changing its approach to projects like this can TVA begin to mend its damaged relationship with the public.