Broadband Green by Richard Patterson is licensed under CC BY 2.0 DEED via Flickr
On January 12, 2026, the Federalist published an op-ed by ATR’s Director of Innovation Policy James Erwin.
This op-ed covered how President Trump’s vision for the Tennessee Valley Authority signals a step in the right direction after repeated mismanagement during the Biden Administration.
The current TVA shaped by the Biden administration is in the habit of pushing far-left “green” energy agendas and government-owned broadband networks. The increased energy costs and mission drift has resulted in the TVA falling short of its founding principles.
TVA has instead focused on woke environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics beloved by the left and pushed renewable green energy on its customers while retiring natural gas and coal power plants ahead of schedule.
In supporting government-run internet, the TVA limits how efficiently it can serve its customers. Government-owned services are supported by taxpayers and public substitutes, reducing competition and provided no reason to manage costs or service quality. Examples like Kentucky’s statewide GON KentuckyWired shows that internet run by the government face a forgone conclusion.
Government-owned networks such as the Electric Board of Chattanooga and GEA have been sustained by government subsidies, cash infusions, and Covid money from Biden’s state and local slush fund. This outcome pushes private investment out in favor of inefficient government networks with little incentive to deliver quality.
Government-owned networks never concern themselves with good-quality service because they expect endless taxpayer support to keep them afloat.
The Biden administration’s prioritization of government-owned networks over private investment and politicalization of the broadband deployment process lead the BEAD program to fall colossally short in achieving its goals. By 2025 zero home had been connected to high-speed broadband through federal funding.
The Biden administration attempted to use the BEAD program not to help connect the unconnected, but rather to distort the broadband marketplace by enticing local governments and quasi-government organizations like TVA to get into the business.
These absurd costs and inefficiencies have been felt wherever the TVA reaches, and Tennessee has heard enough. Efforts from the Volunteer State’s Senators move to support President Trump in positioning the TVA to make good its core mission to provide abundant, affordable, and reliant energy to the seven states within its authority.
This is why President Trump is moving to overhaul the TVA. Their new board, now confirmed, would be wise to follow President Trump’s new vision for the TVA: affordable, reliable, and abundant energy — and quitting the pet government projects that impede success.
The full op-ed here.
