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Released November 19, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Danny Levin, Deputy Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)
"TVA is making investments in its generating portfolio and infrastructure. TVA continues to evaluate adding flexible gas plants as a strategy to maintain reliability," the federally-owned corporation said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its fiscal-year 2025 earnings results.
TVA projects nearly $16 billion worth of capital investment from fiscal-year 2025 through fiscal-year 2027, according to a business presentation released days after the November 13 earnings results. Most of that amount is attributed to capacity expansions.
During TVA's earnings-related investor call, Chief Executive Officer Don Moul said the utility has 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of new generation currently under construction, while Chief Financial Officer Tom Rice said the TVA is "in the middle of a historic gas build right now."
The utility has approximately 6,200 megawatts (MW) of "new firm, dispatchable generation under construction or being evaluated for potential construction," according to its earnings-related press release .
Also underway is construction of the New Caledonia Generation Site, on vacant land in Lowndes County, Mississippi. It is designed to provide approximately 500 MW of new generation capacity by utilizing six dual-fuel combustion turbines.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Database can read the three related project reports and plant profiles.
TVA earlier this year became the first U.S. utility to receive an early site permit (ESP) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an SMR: the utility wants to build a 300-MW reactor at its Clinch River site, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. An issued ESP approves the site for a nuclear facility, independent of an application for a construction permit or combined license (construction and operatorship license). The proposed project plans to use the SMR reactor technology developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (Wilmington, North Carolina), the BWRX-300.
According to the TVA's earnings-related presentation, the BWRX-300 design is under NRC review, and a construction permit could potentially be issued by late 2026 or early 2027.
Subscribers can read the detailed project report.
The utility also is exploring additional SMRs at Clinch River, and the TVA board earlier this year approved $350 million in funding for the effort.
The Trump administration, in pushing its pro-fossil agenda, aims to preserve coal-fired generation and promote additional capacity. For more information, see November 4, 2025, article - U.S. Offers Funds to Keep Coal Plants Open and November 3, 2025, article - In Face of Declining Exports, U.S. Administration Props Up Coal Sector.
The utility plans to retire the two coal-fired units at Cumberland, by the end of 2026 and 2028, respectively, while TVA is "exploring potential sites for the proposed construction and operation of facilities to replace part of that generation."
TVA also plans to retire the nine units at Kingston by the end of 2027.
TVA's net income was $1.4 billion for fiscal-year 2025, which was $225 million higher than the prior year mainly due to higher operating revenues ($13.7 billion compared with $12.3 billion year-over-year); electricity sales increased approximately 3% compared to last year, "primarily driven by higher sales to residential and small commercial and industrial customers as well as increases within the data processing, hosting, and related services sector," according to the earnings-related press release.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Key Takeaways
About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Summary
New-build nuclear and gas-fired generation are key to the Tennessee Valley Authority's energy future.Tennessee Valley Authority's Energy Future
The Tennessee Valley Authority (Knoxville, Tennessee) says that "additional load growth for the foreseeable future is expected to challenge TVA's capacity position. New capacity will be needed to support this load growth, replace retiring and expiring capacity, and enable further electrification of the economy.""TVA is making investments in its generating portfolio and infrastructure. TVA continues to evaluate adding flexible gas plants as a strategy to maintain reliability," the federally-owned corporation said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its fiscal-year 2025 earnings results.
TVA projects nearly $16 billion worth of capital investment from fiscal-year 2025 through fiscal-year 2027, according to a business presentation released days after the November 13 earnings results. Most of that amount is attributed to capacity expansions.
During TVA's earnings-related investor call, Chief Executive Officer Don Moul said the utility has 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of new generation currently under construction, while Chief Financial Officer Tom Rice said the TVA is "in the middle of a historic gas build right now."
The utility has approximately 6,200 megawatts (MW) of "new firm, dispatchable generation under construction or being evaluated for potential construction," according to its earnings-related press release .
TVA's Gas Buildout
The gas buildout includes two major projects under construction in Tennessee: roughly 1,400 MW of new generation at its Kingston Power Station in Harriman, where two combined-cycle turbines will be used to replace the capacity that will be lost when the coal-fired units are retired. The new generation is expected to begin operating by late 2027. Roughly 1,400 MW of new combined-cycle generation also is underway at the Cumberland Fossil Power Station. The Cumberland gas-fired units will be operational in 2026 to replace power generated by the first retired coal unit.Also underway is construction of the New Caledonia Generation Site, on vacant land in Lowndes County, Mississippi. It is designed to provide approximately 500 MW of new generation capacity by utilizing six dual-fuel combustion turbines.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Database can read the three related project reports and plant profiles.
TVA's Nuclear Development
"TVA is committed to investing in the future of nuclear with the evaluation of emerging advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors ("SMRs"), while working to renew its existing nuclear generation fleet licenses," the company said in its SEC filing.TVA earlier this year became the first U.S. utility to receive an early site permit (ESP) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an SMR: the utility wants to build a 300-MW reactor at its Clinch River site, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. An issued ESP approves the site for a nuclear facility, independent of an application for a construction permit or combined license (construction and operatorship license). The proposed project plans to use the SMR reactor technology developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (Wilmington, North Carolina), the BWRX-300.
According to the TVA's earnings-related presentation, the BWRX-300 design is under NRC review, and a construction permit could potentially be issued by late 2026 or early 2027.
Subscribers can read the detailed project report.
The utility also is exploring additional SMRs at Clinch River, and the TVA board earlier this year approved $350 million in funding for the effort.
TVA's Plans for Coal-Fired Generation
The authority continues to evaluate the impact of retiring the balance of its coal-fired fleet by 2035, and that evaluation includes environmental reviews and approval from the board of directors. According to the SEC filing, "TVA is also reviewing how recent executive orders, the evolving regulatory environment, and overall system performance are impacting the operation of its coal-fired fleet. An evaluation of the continued operation of coal-fired units is being conducted and will consider material condition, plant performance, system flexibility needs, environmental requirements, grid support, and other factors."The Trump administration, in pushing its pro-fossil agenda, aims to preserve coal-fired generation and promote additional capacity. For more information, see November 4, 2025, article - U.S. Offers Funds to Keep Coal Plants Open and November 3, 2025, article - In Face of Declining Exports, U.S. Administration Props Up Coal Sector.
The utility plans to retire the two coal-fired units at Cumberland, by the end of 2026 and 2028, respectively, while TVA is "exploring potential sites for the proposed construction and operation of facilities to replace part of that generation."
TVA also plans to retire the nine units at Kingston by the end of 2027.
TVA's net income was $1.4 billion for fiscal-year 2025, which was $225 million higher than the prior year mainly due to higher operating revenues ($13.7 billion compared with $12.3 billion year-over-year); electricity sales increased approximately 3% compared to last year, "primarily driven by higher sales to residential and small commercial and industrial customers as well as increases within the data processing, hosting, and related services sector," according to the earnings-related press release.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Key Takeaways
- New-build nuclear and gas generation are two key components of TVA's generation buildout.
- Tennessee Valley Authority plans $16 billion in capital investment through fiscal-year 2027.
- TVA continues to evaluate the retirement of its coal-fired fleet, which could be affected by governmental policy.
About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
