KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Tennessee's Republican U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, are questioning why the Tennessee Valley Authority is placing greater emphasis on renewable energy as part of its long-term plans.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the senators insisted during a recent meeting that renewable sources of energy add costs and uncertainty.
In a speech before the Senate, Alexander claimed Germany’s renewable energy experiment had failed. He recounted a conversation with a German minister of energy.
“This has produced a situation where you’ve got nearly the highest electricity prices in the European Union. What do you tell a manufacturer when they say that they want to come to Germany? The minister said, ‘I tell them to go somewhere else.’ Well somewhere else is the United States today and we want those jobs so I thank him for his experience.”
Alexander says TVA should focus on nuclear power generation instead of what he called the latest "fad."
TVA President and CEO Bill Johnson says, however, that a mix of energy sources will help TVA ensure reliability and low costs in the future.