TVA says it'll handle peak electricity demands this week, even after damage from ice storm

The Tennessee Valley Authority's seven-state power grid took a hit during the massive winter storm over the weekend, but officials are confident it can handle the peak power demands during the lingering frigid temperatures this week.

TVA took damage to transmission lines in Tennessee and in northern Mississippi during the storm. Officials said they have repaired lines in Tennessee, but they're still working on repairs in Mississippi.

Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power after ice from freezing rain took down trees and snapped power lines. A shelter in place order is in effect for affected portions of Mississippi.

This morning, TVA's system-wide demand reached 33,000 megawatt hours, according to its monitoring website .
The utility said it does not expect to have to meet the record-setting peak demands of the past two Januarys; 34,600 megawatts on Jan. 17, 2024, then broken on Jan. 22, 2025 at 35,300 megawatts. TVA says its system has the capacity to provide up to 40,000 megawatts of electricity.

Since rolling blackouts occurred in December 2022, TVA has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to harden its system for extreme weather.

However, TVA is also receiving more electricity demands for the future at a rate higher than the national average. A growing population and booming economy in many southeastern cities is a factor, along with power requests from artificial intelligence and data hosting companies, totaling up to 11,000 megawatts in new requests.

TVA says it's currently building approximately 6,200 megawatts of new capacity to be online by the mid-2030s. It's also aggressively expanding its nuclear portfolio, targeting up to 6 gigawatts of new, clean generation, including the nation's first Small Modular Reactor at the Clinch River site.

TVA is the nation's largest public power system. It serves almost all of Tennessee, as well as parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.