US utility pledges more transparency after lack of notice it empowered CEO to make plant decisions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation’s largest public utility on Thursday pledged to be more transparent after it took months to disclose that a general budget vote by its board last year also gave the CEO the final decision over several proposed natural gas power plants.
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board announced the transparency changes during its quarterly meeting in Nashville. The decision followed an August meeting in which the federal utility’s board cast the budget vote that quietly gave President and CEO Jeff Lyash the final say over the projects, including the replacement of the aging coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant with a natural gas plant.
The public didn’t find out about those provisions until documents with specific details were released several months later, some via public records request, said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.