Tennessee Valley Authority - wikipedia Tennessee Valley Authority This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2018 ) Tennessee Valley Authority Logo of the TVA Flag of the TVA Type Government - owned independent corporation Industry Electric utility Founded May 18, 1933 Headquarters Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. Key people Bill Johnson, CEO Revenue $11.56 billion USD ( FY 2013 ending September 30, 2013 ) Operating income $1.453 billion USD ( FY 2013 ) Net income $271 million USD ( FY 2013 ) Website tva.gov TVA Towers, TVA 's headquarters in downtown Knoxville, overlooking the Tennessee River The Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA ) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter on May 18, 1933, to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. The enterprise was a result of the efforts of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to more quickly modernize the region 's economy and society. TVA 's service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest. Under the leadership of David Lilienthal ( `` Mr. TVA '' ), the TVA became a model for America 's efforts to help modernize agrarian societies in the developing world. Contents 1 Overview 2 History 2.1 Muscle Shoals controversy, 1920 -- 1932 2.2 1930s 2.3 Employment policy 2.4 1940s 2.5 1950s 2.6 1960s 2.7 1970s -- 1980s 2.8 1990s 2.9 2000s 3 Facilities 3.1 Dams and hydroelectric facilities 3.2 Fossil fuel plants 3.3 Nuclear power plants 3.3. 1 Cancelled Nuclear Reactors 3.3. 2 Active Nuclear Reactors 3.4 Joint facilities 3.5 Renewable generation 3.6 Electric transmission 3.7 Administration 3.8 Recreation 4 Megasites 5 Criticism 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External links Overview This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2013 ) TVA electricity sign at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act ( ch. 32, Pub. L. 73 -- 17, 48 Stat. 58, enacted May 18, 1933, codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. § 831, et seq. ), creating the TVA. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the TVA Act During the 1920s and the Great Depression years, Americans began to support the idea of public ownership of utilities, particularly hydroelectric power facilities. The concept of government - owned generation facilities selling to publicly owned distribution utilities was controversial and remains so today. Many believed privately owned power companies were charging too much for power, did not employ fair operating practices, and were subject to abuse by their owners ( utility holding companies ), at the expense of consumers. During his presidential campaign, Roosevelt claimed that private utilities had `` selfish purposes '' and said, `` Never shall the federal government part with its sovereignty or with its control of its power resources while I 'm president of the United States. '' By forming utility holding companies, the private sector controlled 94 percent of generation by 1921, essentially unregulated. ( This gave rise to the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 ( P.U.H.C.A. ) ). Many private companies in the Tennessee Valley were bought by the federal government. Others shut down, unable to compete with the T.V.A. Government regulations were also passed to prevent competition with T.V.A. T.V.A. was one of the first federal hydropower agencies, and today most of the nation 's major hydropower systems are federally managed. Other attempts to create T.V.A. - like regional agencies have failed, such as a proposed Columbia Valley Authority for the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. Wilson Dam, completed in 1924, was the first dam under the authority of TVA, created in 1933. Regional power consumers may benefit from lower - cost electricity supplied from T.V.A. 's network of 29 power - producing hydropower facilities. Supporters of TVA, though, note that the agency 's management of the Tennessee River system without appropriated federal funding saves federal taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Opponents, such as Dean Russell in The TVA Idea, in addition to condemning the project as being socialist, argued that TVA created a `` hidden loss '' by preventing the creation of `` factories and jobs that would have come into existence if the government had allowed the taxpayers to spend their money as they wished. '' Defenders note that TVA is overwhelmingly popular in Tennessee among conservatives and liberals alike, as Barry Goldwater discovered in 1964, when he proposed selling the agency. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled TVA to be constitutional in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 ( 1936 ). The Court noted that regulating commerce among the states includes regulation of streams and that controlling floods is required for keeping streams navigable ; it also upheld the constitutionality of the TVA under the War Powers Clause, seeing its activities as a means of assuring the electric supply for the manufacture of munitions in the event of war. The argument before the court was that electricity generation was a by - product of navigation and flood control and therefore could be considered constitutional. History Muscle Shoals Controversy, 1920 -- 1932 In the 1920s, a major battle erupted over building an electric power system in the Tennessee Valley, based on the World War I federal dam at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It would generate electricity and produce fertilizer. Senator George Norris of Nebraska blocked a proposal from Henry Ford in 1920 to use the dam to modernize the valley. Norris deeply distrusted privately owned utility companies. He did get Congress to pass the Muscle Shoals Bill, but it was vetoed as socialistic by President Herbert Hoover in 1931. The idea behind the Muscle Shoals Bill in 1933 became a core part of the New Deal 's TVA. 1930s A carpenter ( wearing a contractor 's employee badge ) at work during the 1942 construction of the Douglas Dam in East Tennessee. Even by Depression standards, the Tennessee Valley was economically dismal in 1933. Thirty percent of the population was affected by malaria, and the average income was only $639 per year, with some families surviving on as little as $100 per year. Much of the land had been farmed too hard for too long, eroding and depleting the soil. Crop yields had fallen along with farm incomes. The best timber had been cut, with another 10 % of forests being burnt each year. TVA was designed to modernize the region, using experts and electricity to combat human and economic problems. TVA developed fertilizers, taught farmers ways to improve crop yields and helped replant forests, control forest fires, and improve habitat for fish and wildlife. The most dramatic change in Valley life came from TVA - generated electricity. Electric lights and modern home appliances made life easier and farms more productive. Electricity also drew industries into the region, providing desperately needed jobs. TVA 's first board ( L to R ) : Harcourt Morgan, Arthur E. Morgan, and David Lilienthal The development of the dams displaced more than 15,000 families. This created anti-TVA sentiment in some rural communities. Many local landowners were suspicious of government agencies. But TVA successfully introduced new agricultural methods into traditional farming communities by blending in and finding local champions. A Tennessee farmer would not take advice from an official in a suit and tie, so TVA officials had to find leaders in the communities and convince them that crop rotation and the judicious application of fertilizers could restore soil fertility. Once they had convinced the leaders, the rest followed. At its inception, TVA was based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, but later moved its headquarters to Knoxville, Tennessee, where they remain today. At one point, TVA 's headquarters were housed in the Old Federal Customs House at the corner of Clinch Avenue and Market Street. The building is now a museum. Employment policy The Authority hired many area unemployed to conduct conservation, economic development, and social programs, such as a library service that operated for the surrounding area. The professional staff headquarters was composed of experts from outside the region. The workers were categorized by the usual racial and gender lines of the day. TVA hired a few African Americans for janitorial or other low - level positions. TVA recognized labor unions ; its skilled and semi-skilled blue collar employees were unionized, a breakthrough in an area known for corporations hostile to miners ' and textile workers ' unions. Women were excluded from construction work. TVA 's cheap electricity attracted textile mills to the area, and they hired mostly women as workers. 1940s The Douglas Dam early in its construction in 1942. During World War II, the U.S. needed greater aluminum supplies to build airplanes. Aluminum plants required huge amounts of electricity. To provide the power, TVA engaged in one of the largest hydropower construction programs ever undertaken in the U.S. By early in 1942, when the effort reached its peak, 12 hydroelectric plants and one steam plant were under construction at the same time, and design and construction employment reached a total of 28,000. The largest project of this period was the Fontana Dam. After negotiations led by Vice-President Harry Truman ( `` I want aluminum. I do n't care if I get it from Alcoa or Al Capone '' ), TVA purchased the land from Nantahala Power and Light, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa, and built Fontana Dam. The government originally intended the electricity generated from Fontana to be used by Alcoa factories. By the time the dam generated power in early 1945, the electricity was directed to another purpose in addition to aluminum manufacturing, as TVA also provided much of the electricity needed for uranium enrichment at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as required for the Manhattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb. 1950s By the end of the war, TVA had completed a 650 - mile ( 1050 - kilometer ) navigation channel the length of the Tennessee River and had become the nation 's largest electricity supplier. Even so, the demand for electricity was outstripping TVA 's capacity to produce power from hydroelectric dams. Political interference kept TVA from securing additional federal appropriations to build coal - fired plants, so it sought the authority to issue bonds. Congress passed legislation in 1959 to make the TVA power system self - financing, and from that point on it would pay its own way. 1960s The 1960s were years of unprecedented economic growth in the Tennessee Valley. Electric rates were among the nation 's lowest and stayed low as TVA brought larger, more efficient generating units into service. Expecting the Valley 's electric power needs to continue to grow, TVA began building nuclear reactors as a new source of cheap power. During this decade ( and the 1970s ), TVA was engaged in what was up to that time its most controversial project -- the Tellico Dam Project. The project was initially conceived in the 1940s but not completed until 1979. 1970s -- 1980s Significant changes occurred in the economy of the Tennessee Valley and the nation, prompted by an international oil embargo in 1973 and accelerating fuel costs later in the decade. The average cost of electricity in the Tennessee Valley increased fivefold from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. TVA canceled the construction of 12 nuclear power plants in the 1980s. The 1970s saw the last and most controversial of the TVA 's large dam - reservoir projects, Tellico Dam. The Tellico Dam project was initially delayed because of concern over the snail darter. A lawsuit was filed under the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting the snail darter in Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill. Marvin T. Runyon became chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority in January 1988. He claimed to reduce management layers, cut overhead costs by more than 30 %, and achieved cumulative savings and efficiency improvements of $1.8 billion. He said he revitalized the nuclear program and instituted a rate freeze that continued for ten years. 1990s As the electric - utility industry moved toward restructuring and deregulation, TVA began preparing for competition. It cut operating costs by nearly $950 million a year, reduced its workforce by more than half, increased the generating capacity of its plants, stopped building nuclear plants, and developed a plan to meet the energy needs of the Tennessee Valley through the year 2020. 2000s May 2005 map of TVA sites dam nuclear fossil In 2002, TVA began work to restart a previously mothballed nuclear reactor at Browns Ferry Unit 1, which was completed in May 2007. In 2005, the TVA announced its intention to construct an Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor at its Bellefonte site in Alabama ( filing the necessary applications in November 2007 ), and in 2007 announced plans to complete the unfinished Unit 2 at Watts Bar. ( TVA is the owner and operator of the Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar nuclear power plants. ) In 2004, TVA implemented recommendations from the Reservoir Operations Study ( ROS ) in how it operates the Tennessee River system ( the nation 's fifth largest ). On December 22, 2008, an earthen dike at TVA 's Kingston Fossil Plant broke, spreading one billion gallons of wet coal ash across 300 acres ( 1.2 km ) of land and into the tributaries of the Tennessee River. The non-profit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy plans on suing TVA for $165 million on behalf of residents in the area. The Kentucky Sierra Club called the disaster `` the worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl ''. While TVA 's culture at its fossil fuel plants was not the cause of the Kingston Spill, the culture contributed to the spill, as was noted in the TVA Office of the Inspector General 's report, Inspection 2008 - 12283 - 02, Review of the Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Spill Cause Study and Observations About Ash Management. In 2009, TVA signed 20 - year power purchase agreements with Maryland - based CVP Renewable Energy Co. and Chicago - based Invenergy Wind LLC for electricity generated by wind farms. As of 2013, TVA carries $25 billion in debt, near the $30 billion debt limit imposed by Congress. TVA must retire at least 18 of its 59 coal - fired units by 2017, and install scrubbers in several others or convert them to make them cleaner at a cost of $25 billion over the next 10 - years according to the Obama Administration 's proposed 2013 -- 2014 budget. The budget also says that `` reducing or eliminating the federal government 's role in programs such as TVA, which have achieved their original objectives and no longer require federal participation, can help put the nation on a sustainable fiscal path '' which could mean future privatization for TVA. Facilities TVA 's power mix as of 2012 is 10 coal - powered plants, 29 hydroelectric dams, three nuclear power plants ( with seven operating reactors ), nine simple cycle natural gas combustion turbine plants, and five combined cycle gas plants. TVA is the largest public power utility in the United States and one of the largest producers of electricity in the country. It acts as a regional grid reliability coordinator. In 2012 coal generation was about 32 % of total, nuclear 34 %, hydro 9 %, and ( owned ) gas 11 %. TVA currently purchases from external power producers about 15 % of the power it sells. Purchased power is from natural gas combined cycles, coal, wind, and other renewables. The cost of Purchased Power is part of the `` Fuel Cost Adjustment '' ( FCA ) charge that is separate from the TVA Rate. Watts Bar reactor produces tritium as a byproduct for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, which requires tritium for nuclear weapons ( for `` boosted '' fission primaries and for fusion secondaries ). Dams and hydroelectric facilities Apalachia Dam Bear Creek Dam Beaver Creek Dam Beech Dam Blue Ridge Dam Boone Dam Cedar Dam Cedar Creek Dam Chatuge Dam Cherokee Dam Chickamauga Dam Clear Creek Dam Dogwood Dam Douglas Dam Fontana Dam Fort Loudoun Dam Fort Patrick Henry Dam Great Falls Dam Guntersville Dam Hales Bar Dam ( demolished ) Hiwassee Dam Kentucky Dam Little Bear Creek Dam Lost Creek Dam Melton Hill Dam Nickajack Dam Nolichucky Dam Normandy Dam Norris Dam Nottely Dam Ocoee Dams 1, 2, 3 Pickwick Landing Dam Pin Oak Dam Pine Dam Raccoon Mountain Pumped - Storage Plant Redbud Dam South Holston Dam Sycamore Dam Tellico Dam Tims Ford Dam Upper Bear Creek Dam Watauga Dam Watts Bar Dam Wheeler Dam Wilbur Dam Wilson Dam Fossil fuel plants Coal - fired power plants Allen Bull Run Colbert Cumberland Gallatin Johnsonville Kingston Paradise Shawnee Widows Creek Natural gas and dual - fuel combustion turbine ( CT ) and combined cycle ( CC ) plants Ackerman CC Allen CC Brownsville CT Caledonia CC Colbert CT Gallatin CT Gleason CT John Sevier CC Johnsonville CT Kemper CT Lagoon Creek CC Lagoon Creek CT Magnolia CC Marshall CT Paradise CC Southaven CC Lagoon Creek Combined Cycle Plant ( commercial operation September 2010 ) was the first combined cycle generating plant in Tennessee. Nuclear power plants In the 1980s, TVA set out to build 17 nuclear reactors but finished only five. On August 6th, 1981 the Tennessee Valley Authority Board voted to defer the Phipps Bend plant, as well as to slow down construction on all other projects. Only seven reactors have been built to date, but together these nuclear power plants produce about 30 percent of the TVA 's energy. Cancelled Nuclear Reactors Phipps Bend Nuclear Power Plant ( Deferred August 6, 1981 ) Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station ( Cancelled January 1st, 1988 ) Hartsville Nuclear Plant ( Plant B reactors were canceled March 22, 1983 and Plant A reactors were canceled August 29, 1984 ) Yellow Creek Nuclear Power Plant ( Cancelled August 29, 1984 ) Clinch River Breeder Reactor ( Cancelled October 26th, 1983 ) Active Nuclear Reactors Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant ( 3 reactors ) Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station ( 2 reactors ) Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station ( 2 reactors ) Joint facilities TVA also assists ALCOA 's Tapoco / APGI in regulating several facilities, including the Calderwood, Cheoah, Chilhowee, and Santeetlah dams. Renewable generation TVA operates several small - scale facilities that generate electricity from renewable sources other than hydropower. These include : Solar electric generation Lovers Lane soccer complex, Bowling Green, Kentucky ( 36 kW capacity ) Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, Tennessee ( 85 kW ) Gibson County High School, Dyer, Tennessee ( 18 kW ) Florence, Alabama water treatment facility ( 30 kW ) Sci - Quest science museum, Huntsville, Alabama ( 27 kW ) Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, Tennessee ( 15 kW ) Bridges Center, Memphis, Tennessee ( 25 kW ) Adventure Science Center, Nashville, Tennessee ( 27 kW ) Cocke County High School, Newport, Tennessee ( 9 kW ) American Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee ( 15 kW ) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee ( 7 kW ) University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi ( 30 kW ) Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee ( two 18 kW facilities ) Duffield - Pattonsville Elementary School, Scott County, Virginia ( 9 kW ) Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi ( 15 kW ) Wind power At Buffalo Mountain in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, TVA operates three wind turbines with a combined generation capacity of 2 MW and purchases the output of 15 additional wind turbines owned by Invenergy that have a combined capacity of 27 MW. As of 2013, the agency had purchased agreements from power generated from wind farms outside its service area : 2012 -- Enel Green Power, LLC -- 201MW -- Caney River Wind Farm, Elk County, Kansas. 2012 -- Invenergy -- 400MW -- Bishop Hill Wind Energy Center, Henry County, Illinois 2012 -- 200MW -- California Ridge Wind Energy Center in Champaign County, Illinois 2012 -- NextEra Energy Resources -- 150MW -- White Oak Energy Center, McLean County, Illinois 2012 -- NextEra Energy Resources -- 165MW -- Cimarron Wind farm, Gray County, Kansas A 2010 agreement with Iberdrola Renewables provides a potential 300MW future supply from Streator - Cayuga Ridge Wind Farm, Livingston County, Illinois Waste - derived methane Biogas from the Maxson wastewater treatment plant in Memphis is burned in Allen Fossil Plant, accounting for a generating capacity of 4 MW. Electric transmission TVA is one of the largest operators of electric transmission in the US with an approximately 16,000 - mile ( 26,000 km ) corridor of transmission ( 13,000 miles ( 21,000 km ) of which is greater than 161kv ). Administration TVA 's headquarters are located in downtown Knoxville, with large administrative offices in Chattanooga ( training / development ; supplier relations ; power generation and distribution ) Nashville, Tennessee ( economic development ), and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Recreation TVA has conveyed approximately 485,420 acres ( 1,964.4 km ) of property for recreation and preservation purposes including public parks ; public access areas and roadside parks ; wildlife refuges ; national parks and forests ; and other camps and recreation areas, which comprises approximately 759 different sites. Megasites To qualify for a TVA Megasite certificate the qualifications are at least 1,000 acres, with interstate access, the potential for rail service, environmental impact study, and utility service capable of serving a major manufacturing facility. Seven TVA Megasites have been developed so far with capital investments of over $5 Billion. Locations : Huntsville Chattanooga Golden Triangle ( Mississippi ) ( 2 sites ) Hopkinsville, Kentucky Memphis Regional Megasite West Kentucky Megasite Criticism TVA was heralded by New Dealers and the New Deal Coalition not only as a successful economic development program for a depressed area but also as a democratic nation - building effort overseas because of its alleged grassroots inclusiveness as articulated by director David Lilienthal. The TVA was controversial in the 1930s. Historian Thomas McCraw concludes that Roosevelt `` rescued the ( power ) industry from its own abuses '' but `` he might have done this much with a great deal less agitation and ill will ''. New Dealers hoped to build numerous other TVAs around the country but were defeated by Wendell Willkie and the Conservative coalition in Congress. The valley authority model did not replace the limited - purpose water programs of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers. State - centered theorists hold that reformers are most likely to succeed during periods such as the New Deal era, when they are supported by a democratized polity and when they dominate Congress and the administration. However, it has been shown that in river policy, the strength of opposing interest groups also mattered. The TVA bill was passed in 1933 because reformers like Norris skillfully coordinated action at potential choke points and weakened the already disorganized opponents among the electric power industry lobbyists. In 1936, however, after regrouping, opposing river lobbyists and conservative coalition congressmen took advantage of the New Dealers ' spending mood by expanding the Army Corps ' flood control program. They also helped defeat further valley authorities, the most promising of the New Deal water policy reforms. Ronald Reagan, fired by General Electric for criticizing TVA. When Democrats after 1945 proclaimed the Tennessee Valley Authority as a model for countries in the developing world to follow, conservative critics charged it was a top - heavy, centralized, technocratic venture that displaced locals and did so in insensitive ways. Thus, when the program was used as the basis for modernization programs in various parts of the third world during the Cold War, such as in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, its failure brought a backlash of cynicism toward modernization programs that has persisted. Then - movie star Ronald Reagan had moved to television as the host and a frequent performer for General Electric Theater during 1954. Reagan was later fired by General Electric in 1962 in response to his publicly referring to the TVA ( TVA being a major customer for GE turbines ) as one of the problems of `` big government ''. Some claim that Reagan was instead fired due to a criminal antitrust investigation involving him and the Screen Actors Guild. However, Reagan was only interviewed ; nobody was actually charged with anything in the investigation. In 1963, U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was quoted in a Saturday Evening Post article by Stewart Alsop as saying, `` You know, I think we ought to sell TVA. '' He had called for the sale to private companies of particular parts of the Authority, including its fertilizer production and steam - generation facilities, because `` it would be better operated and would be of more benefit for more people if it were part of private industry. '' Goldwater 's Saturday Evening Post quotation was used against him in a TV ad by Doyle Dane Bernbach for President Lyndon Johnson 's 1964 campaign, which depicted an auction taking place atop a dam. It was voiced over as follows : `` In a Saturday Evening Post article dated August 31, 1963, Barry Goldwater said, ' You know, I think we ought to sell TVA. ' This is a promise : President Johnson will not sell TVA. Vote for him on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home. '' In 1981 the TVA Board of Directors broke with previous tradition and took a hard line against white - collar unions during contract negotiations. As a result, a class action suit was filed in 1984 in U.S. court charging the agency with sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act based on the large number of women in one of the pay grades negatively impacted by the new contract. An out - of - court settlement of the lawsuit was reached in 1987, in which TVA agreed to contract modifications and paid the group $5 million but admitted no wrongdoing. See also Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations Appalachian Regional Commission Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority, modelled on the TVA James Bay Energy Society, Crown - Company of the Quebec governement for developping the James Bay Project for building various Dams on rivers List of navigation authorities in the United States Muscle Shoals Bill Multipurpose reservoir Nashville Electric Service New Deal Norris, Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority Police Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill References ^ Jump up to : Ekbladh, David ( Summer 2002 ). `` '' Mr. TVA `` : Grass - Roots Development, David Lilienthal, and the Rise and Fall of the Tennessee Valley Authority as a Symbol for U.S. Overseas Development, 1933 - 1973 ''. Diplomatic History. Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. 26 ( 3 ) : 335 -- 374. doi : 10.1111 / 1467 - 7709.00315. ISSN 1467 - 7709. OCLC 772657716. Retrieved March 19, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Hubbard, Preston J. ( 1961 ). Origins of the TVA : The Muscle Shoals Controversy, 1920 -- 1932. Nashville : Vanderbilt University Press. OCLC 600647072. Jump up ^ Perlstein, Rick ( 2001 ). Before the storm : Barry Goldwater and the unmaking of the American consensus. New York : Hill and Wang. p. 226. ISBN 080902859X. OCLC 801179619. Jump up ^ Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288 ( 1936 ). Jump up ^ Rodgers, Paul ( 2011 ). United States Constitutional Law : An Introduction. Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Co. p. 48. ISBN 9780786460175. OCLC 707092889. Jump up ^ Wengert, Norman ( 1952 ). `` Antecedents of TVA : The Legislative History of Muscle Shoals ''. Agricultural History. Agricultural History Society. 26 ( 4 ) : 141 -- 147. ISSN 1533 - 8290. JSTOR 3740474. OCLC 971899953. Jump up ^ Schulman, Bruce J. ( 1991 ). From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt : Federal policy, economic development, and the transformation of the South, 1938 - 1980. New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195363442. OCLC 300412389. Jump up ^ `` East Tennessee Historical Society ''. East-tennessee-history.org. Archived from the original on 2007 - 06 - 30. Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ Long, Jennifer ( December 1999 ). `` Government Job Creation Programs -- Lessons from the 1930s and 1940s ''. Journal of Economic Issues. 33 ( 4 ) : 903 -- 918. doi : 10.1080 / 00213624.1999. 11506220. ISSN 0021 - 3624. OCLC 5996637494. ^ Jump up to : Wald, Matthew ( August 19, 2011 ). `` Alabama Nuclear Reactor, Partly Built, to Be Finished ''. The New York Times. p. A12. Jump up ^ Dewan, Shaila ( January 1, 2009 ). `` Metal Levels Found High in Tributary After Spill ''. The New York Times. p. A12. Jump up ^ Huotari, John ( January 1, 2009 ). `` $165 M TVA lawsuit could get bigger ''. The Oak Ridger. Archived from the original on 2012 - 03 - 12. Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ Cooper, Dave ( February 2009 ). `` '' The Worst Environmental Disaster Since Chernobyl `` '' ( PDF ). The Cumberland. 43 ( 2 ). Lexington, KY : Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Kentucky. p. 1. Archived from the original ( pdf ) on March 5, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Review of Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Spill Root Cause Study and Observations About Ash Management - 2008 - 12283 - 02 '' ( pdf ). TVA, Office of the Inspector General. July 23, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Dakota wind sites help TVA go green ''. Chattanooga Times Free Press. October 23, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) ^ Jump up to : `` Dammed if you do n't : Barack Obama mulls privatising America 's biggest public utility ''. The Economist. April 27, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Hayes, Hank ( August 23, 2008 ). `` Nuclear power option still alive at TVA despite Phipps Bend debacle ''. Kingsport Times - News. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Nuclear ''. Knoxville, TN : Tennessee Valley Authority. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Our nuclear plants generate enough low - cost, clean and reliable energy to power about a third of our customers -- more than 4.5 million homes and businesses. Jump up ^ `` T.V.A. Cancels 4 Reactors ''. The New York Times. August 30, 1984. p. D00004. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ TVA in Kentucky Archived 2009 - 01 - 06 at the Wayback Machine., TVA website, accessed January 9, 2009 Jump up ^ TVA in Tennessee Archived 2009 - 01 - 06 at the Wayback Machine., TVA website, accessed January 9, 2009 Jump up ^ TVA in Alabama Archived 2009 - 01 - 05 at the Wayback Machine., TVA website, accessed January 9, 2009 Jump up ^ TVA in Mississippi Archived 2009 - 01 - 06 at the Wayback Machine., TVA website, accessed January 9, 2009 Jump up ^ TVA in Virginia Archived 2009 - 01 - 05 at the Wayback Machine., TVA website, accessed January 9, 2009 Jump up ^ `` TVA : Energy Purchases from Wind Farms ''. tva.com. Archived from the original on 2015 - 07 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Vegetation Maintenance FAQ ''. TVA. Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Chapter 8 -- Recreation Management '' ( PDF ). Natural Resource Plan. Tennessee Valley Authority. July 2011. p. 113. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012. Jump up ^ Mattson - Teig, Beth ( Summer 2013 ). `` Mega Sites Lure Big Fish ''. Area Development. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Underwood, Jerry ( June 15, 2016 ). `` TVA certification primes Huntsville Mega Site for development ''. Made in Alabama. Montgomery : Alabama Department of Commerce. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Smith, Slim ( November 18, 2015 ). `` Higgins : Lowndes shooting for third TVA megasite ''. The Commercial Dispatch. Columbus, MS. Retrieved March 19, 2018. If it is certified, the 1,200 - acre site near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport will be the third megasite in the area. Jump up ^ McCraw, Thomas K ( 1971 ). TVA and the power fight, 1933 - 1939. Critical periods of history. Philadelphia : Lippincott. p. 157. OCLC 162313. Jump up ^ O'Neill, Karen M. ( June 2002 ). `` Why the TVA Remains Unique : Interest Groups and the Defeat of New Deal River Planning ''. Rural Sociology. 67 ( 2 ) : 163 -- 182. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1549 - 0831.2002. tb00099. x. ISSN 0036 - 0112. Jump up ^ Harper, Liz. `` Ronald Reagan -- In Memoriam : Biography ''. NewsHour with Jim Lehrer online. PBS. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. In 1962, GE, concerned that Reagan 's conservative politics made him a liability, fired him for criticizing the Tennessee Valley Authority as an example of `` big government. '' Jump up ^ Weisberg, Jacob ( January 8, 2016 ). `` The Road to Reagandom : How Reagan 's eight - year gig as the host of General Electric Theater sparked his conservative conversion and became the genesis of his political career ''. Slate. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Moldea, Dan E. ( March 15, 1987 ). `` Ronald Reagan and his 1962 grand jury testimony ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Associated Press ( September 21, 1986 ). `` Inquiry Dealt With Suspected Payoffs by Conglomerate : Book Says Reagan Was Cleared in ' 60s Probe of MCA ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Edwards, Lee ( 1995 ). Goldwater : The man who made a revolution. Washington, D.C. : Regnery. ISBN 0895264714. OCLC 624456231. Jump up ^ Mark, David ( 2007 ). Going dirty : The art of negative campaigning. Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield. p. 46. ISBN 0742599825. OCLC 396994651. Bibliography Colignon, Richard A. ( 1997 ). Power Plays : Critical Events in the Institutionalism of the Tennessee Valley Authority. SUNY series in the sociology of work. Albany, NY : State University of New York Press. ISBN 0585077088. OCLC 42855981. Creese, Walter L. ( 1990 ). TVA 's public planning : The vision, the reality. Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0870496387. OCLC 476873440. Culvahouse, Tim, ed. ( 2007 ). The Tennessee Valley Authority : Design and persuasion. New York : Princeton Architectural Press. OCLC 929309559. Hargrove, Erwin C. ; Conkin, Paul K., eds. ( 1983 ). TVA : Fifty years of grass - roots bureaucracy. Urbana, IL : University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252010868. OCLC 474377514. Hargrove, Erwin C. ( 1994 ). Prisoners of myth : the leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933 - 1990. Princeton Studies in American Politics : Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives. Princeton, NJ : Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 0691034672. Kull, Donald C. ( Winter 1949 ). `` Decentralized Budget Administration in the Tennessee Valley Authority ''. Public Administration Review. 9 ( 1 ) : 30 -- 35. doi : 10.2307 / 972660. ISSN 0033 - 3352. JSTOR 972660. OCLC 5544417850. Lilienthal, David E. ( 1953 ). TVA : Democracy on the march. New York : Harper & Row. McDonald, Michael J. ; Muldowny, John ( 1982 ). TVA and the dispossessed : the resettlement of population in the Norris Dam area. Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 157233164X. OCLC 772665997. Morgan, Arthur E. ( 1974 ). The making of the TVA. Buffalo, N.Y. : Prometheus Books. ISBN 0879750340. OCLC 607606121. Neuse, Steven M. ( November -- December 1983 ). `` TVA at Age Fifty -- Reflections and Retrospect ''. Public Administration Review. 43 ( 6 ) : 491 -- 499. doi : 10.2307 / 975916. ISSN 0033 - 3352. JSTOR 975916. OCLC 5550047671. Neuse, Steven M. ( 1996 ). David E. Lilienthal : the journey of an American liberal. Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0870499408. OCLC 243857932. Russell, Dean ( 1949 ). The TVA idea. Irvington - on - Hudson, NY : Foundation for Economic Education. OCLC 564022. Selznick, Philip ( 1949 ). TVA and the Grass Roots : A Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization. University of California Publications in Culture and Society. 3. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press. ISBN 1610278437. OCLC 1026647961. Shapiro, Edward ( Winter 1970 ). `` The Southern Agrarians and the Tennessee Valley Authority ''. American Quarterly. 22 ( 4 ) : 791 -- 806. doi : 10.2307 / 2711870. ISSN 0003 - 0678. JSTOR 2711870. OCLC 5545493875. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA home page Tennessee Valley Authority in the Federal Register Tennessee Valley Authority ( March 1950 ). Procedure for Making, Indexing and Filing Computations. Wikisource. WPA Photographs of TVA Archaeological Projects The New Deal and TVA on YouTube Papers of Arnold R. Jones ( Member of the Board of Directors, Tennessee Valley Authority ), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library THVA history The short film `` Valley of the Tennessee ( 1944 ) '' is available for free download at the Internet Archive Facilities operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority Dams and hydroelectric generating stations Apalachia Bear Creek Beaver Creek Beech Blue Ridge Boone Cedar Cedar Creek Chatuge Cherokee Chickamauga Clear Creek Dogwood Douglas Fontana Fort Loudoun Fort Patrick Henry Great Falls Guntersville Hiwassee Kentucky Little Bear Creek Lost Creek Melton Hill Nickajack Nolichucky Normandy Norris Nottely Ocoee 1 Ocoee 2 Ocoee 3 Pickwick Landing Pin Oak Pine Raccoon Mountain Redbud South Holston Sycamore Tellico Tims Ford Upper Bear Creek Watauga Watts Bar Wheeler Wilbur Wilson Coal - fired power plants Allen Bull Run Colbert Cumberland Gallatin John Sevier Johnsonville Kingston Paradise Shawnee Widows Creek Gas turbine plants Allen Brownsville Caledonia Colbert Gallatin Gleason John Sevier CC Johnsonville Kemper Lagoon Creek Magnolia Marshall Southaven Nuclear power plants Bellefonte Browns Ferry Sequoyah Watts Bar New Deal Causes and legacy Great Depression New Deal Coalition Brain Trust American Liberty League Criticism New Deal Emergency Banking Act Economy Act Agricultural Adjustment Act Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) Civil Works Administration Communications Act Executive Order 6102 Homeowners Refinancing Act Farm Credit Administration Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC ) Federal Emergency Relief Administration Frazier -- Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act Glass -- Steagall Act National Industrial Recovery Act National Housing Act National Recovery Administration National Youth Administration Public Works Administration ( PWA ) Public Works of Art Project Reciprocal Tariff Act Railroad Retirement Act Securities Act Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA ) Second New Deal Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) Federal Project Number One Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Farm Security Administration Judicial Procedures Reform Act National Bituminous Coal Conservation Act National Labor Relations Board ( Act ) Rural Electrification Act Rural Electrification Administration Social Security United States Housing Authority Individuals Franklin D. Roosevelt Harold L. Ickes Frances Perkins Harry Hopkins Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Huey Long Herbert Hoover Robert F. 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Question: in addition to creating jobs what was the purpose of the tva
Answer: to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley