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The first U.S. climate bill will make renewable energy easier, and cheaper, for TVA

Courtesy Peter Beukema/Unsplash
The Inflation Reduction Act allows public utilities to invest in renewables with tax credits.
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The U.S. Senate has finally passed what may become the first comprehensive climate law in American history: the Inflation Reduction Act.

The plan contains compromises that will benefit fossil fuels, especially gas and pipeline companies.

But the bill will push the U.S. to decarbonize, with some studies estimating that the roughly $369 billion investment will reduce U.S. emissions to about 40% of their all-time high by 2030.

The legislation encourages electric vehicles, pushes industries to adopt low-carbon manufacturing and subsidizes zero-carbon electricity.

The latter could help transform the grid in Tennessee, because the bill allows public utilities — like the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility, and local power companies, like Nashville Electric Service — to directly monetize federal tax credits for renewables. That means renewables will be easier and cheaper for power providers.

TVA said it is already decarbonizing and that this bill won’t change their plan, which is to be “net-zero” by 2050.

“TVA’s decarbonization journey is not tied to any specific legislation or direction from the federal government, but is spelled out in our strategic intent document,” TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in a statement.

The legislation will place pressure on TVA to decarbonize faster, however, according to Daniel Tait, a researcher at the utility watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute.

“This is a clear win for public power,” Tait said. “TVA now has no excuse not to accelerate its investments in clean energy.”

Here are some other thoughts about the bill from Twitter’s climate-verse:

Caroline Eggers, Environmental Reporter

Caroline Eggers covers environmental issues with a focus on equity for WPLN News through Report for America, a national service program that supports journalists in local newsrooms across the country. Before joining the station, she spent several years covering water quality issues, biodiversity, climate change and Mammoth Cave National Park for newsrooms in the South. Her reporting on homelessness and a runoff-related “fish kill” for the Bowling Green Daily News earned her 2020 Kentucky Press Association awards in the general news and extended coverage categories, respectively. Beyond deadlines, she is frequently dancing, playing piano and photographing wildlife and her poodle, Princess. She graduated from Emory University with majors in journalism and creative writing.

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