Comments on: TVA making efforts to keep public engaged in planning process http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2009/10/13/tva-making-efforts/ Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:37:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ernest Norsworthy http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2009/10/13/tva-making-efforts/comment-page-1/#comment-132 Ernest Norsworthy Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:22:16 +0000 http://blog.cleanenergy.org/?p=2161#comment-132 Suffice to say, I agree with all attempts to open up to public scrutiny everything TVA. In its smug arrogance, TVA, I believe, many years ago lost the confidence of the people it is supposed to serve. WE are the people who control our federal government although at times it seems it is THEY who are in control. As a federal agency, TVA is not supposed to be the exception. I have been writing about the TVA for some time, trying to understand the arcane messes it continually is involved in. Most of their problems are exacerbated by an unchallenged desire to hide as much as possible, to at all costs remain innocent of any wrongdoing, and to not be held responsible for any of their actions including the Kingston disaster. Based on my premises, my starting points, all of TVA’s planning efforts are merely window dressing for a delay in any adverse actions against the TVA. From a public relations view, of course it would have been better from the beginning to have transparency throughout the planning process. TVA has done much planning in the past and currently is running on its latest (and failed) Strategic Plan. The plan has been a management disaster since the TVA board was changed from a three-person to a nine-member board. Oh, there were many grievous and costly mistakes prior to that for which no one ever was found culpable. Unlike SACE which has an agenda, my agenda, if you would call it one, deals with government and how it is supposed to work in America’s free-market. As you know, the TVA has a great advantage in the marketplace; it is the first federal agency ever to be given complete control over a product, start to finish, in the federal government. Time after time TVA has proved it neither has the management skills to function well in an investor-owned environment nor to apply the incentives built into profit making organizations. But TVA takes advantage of all the power given it to take private property and to unassailably set electricity rates for 8 million customers with complete authority. I believe the TVA is a Constitutional anomaly (it barely has maintained its constitutionality with a number of split votes); with a current and proper airing of what the TVA has become since the 1930s it likely would be ruled unconstitutional today. For my writings on the TVA, see http://norsworthyopinion.com and for my current article, http://norsworthyopinion.com/TVAfuturecloudy.aspx Ernest Norsworthy emnorsworthy@earthlink.net Suffice to say, I agree with all attempts to open up to public scrutiny everything TVA. In its smug arrogance, TVA, I believe, many years ago lost the confidence of the people it is supposed to serve.

WE are the people who control our federal government although at times it seems it is THEY who are in control. As a federal agency, TVA is not supposed to be the exception.

I have been writing about the TVA for some time, trying to understand the arcane messes it continually is involved in. Most of their problems are exacerbated by an unchallenged desire to hide as much as possible, to at all costs remain innocent of any wrongdoing, and to not be held responsible for any of their actions including the Kingston disaster.

Based on my premises, my starting points, all of TVA’s planning efforts are merely window dressing for a delay in any adverse actions against the TVA. From a public relations view, of course it would have been better from the beginning to have transparency throughout the planning process.

TVA has done much planning in the past and currently is running on its latest (and failed) Strategic Plan. The plan has been a management disaster since the TVA board was changed from a three-person to a nine-member board. Oh, there were many grievous and costly mistakes prior to that for which no one ever was found culpable.

Unlike SACE which has an agenda, my agenda, if you would call it one, deals with government and how it is supposed to work in America’s free-market. As you know, the TVA has a great advantage in the marketplace; it is the first federal agency ever to be given complete control over a product, start to finish, in the federal government.

Time after time TVA has proved it neither has the management skills to function well in an investor-owned environment nor to apply the incentives built into profit making organizations. But TVA takes advantage of all the power given it to take private property and to unassailably set electricity rates for 8 million customers with complete authority.

I believe the TVA is a Constitutional anomaly (it barely has maintained its constitutionality with a number of split votes); with a current and proper airing of what the TVA has become since the 1930s it likely would be ruled unconstitutional today.

For my writings on the TVA, see http://norsworthyopinion.com and for my current article, http://norsworthyopinion.com/TVAfuturecloudy.aspx

Ernest Norsworthy
emnorsworthy@earthlink.net

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