Tennessee
New TVA board must refocus on reliability, affordability and accountability | Opinion
TVA, Greene County remember Nolichucky Dam’s resilience in Helene
TVA officials and the Greene County Mayor show off the resilience of the Nolichucky Dam after standing strong during Hurricane Helene one year ago
As Tennessee, and six other southern states, prepare to welcome a new slate of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board members nominated by President Donald Trump, our state faces a pivotal moment for one of its most important public institutions.
TVA was created to serve a simple, vital purpose — to provide reliable, affordable energy to the people of our Tennessee Valley region. But over the years, that mission has drifted.
Too often, TVA has strayed into side projects that have little to do with keeping the lights on and everything to do with expanding the government’s reach. It’s time for that to change. With new leadership coming in alongside a vision cast by Trump and our two U.S. Senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, TVA has a chance to return to what it does best: providing affordable energy that powers Tennessee’s homes, businesses and industries.
The stakes could not be higher. From families trying to pay rising power bills, which seem to increase year over year, to small businesses struggling with inflation and energy costs, reliability and affordability aren’t abstract policy goals —they’re kitchen table issues. When the cost of electricity goes up, the cost of everything else follows.
TVA at risk of power shortages again this winter
And, according to Sen. Bill Hagerty, TVA’s failures are now a “limiting factor” on economic development projects in Tennessee. Not to mention the rolling brownouts we’ve experienced over the past few years — which TVA now anticipates will continue going forward.
That’s why the largely new TVA board, once approved by the U.S. Senate, should make one goal crystal clear: TVA’s job is to produce dependable energy at the lowest possible cost, not follow liberal trends, pursue pet projects or build new bureaucracies.
In recent years, TVA’s focus has too often shifted away from its statutory mission. Take broadband and other non-core ventures for example. They stretch TVA’s expertise, resources and legal boundaries. This kind of “mission creep” doesn’t help Tennessee families — it burdens them.
The truth is, government-run projects in spaces like broadband have consistently failed to deliver on their promises. Across the country, liberal pet projects like this have been riddled with cost overruns, low participation rates and disappointing results. They sound good on paper, but in reality, they waste taxpayer dollars and crowd out private providers that can do the job better and faster — all why putting the taxpayer on the long-term hook for repairs, upgrades and other network needs.
Tennessee’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding decisions offer a cautionary tale. Every state will receive federal funds to expand broadband access, but states must decide how those funds are spent. Here in Tennessee, the right choice is to prioritize free-market solutions that empower private providers to compete and innovate — not to expand the footprint of government-run networks that history tells us are unsustainable.
When TVA stays in its lane, Tennessee prospers
The same principle should guide TVA. The board’s first responsibility should be to the ratepayers – the people of Tennessee who depend on consistent, affordable electricity. That means ensuring every decision made under this new leadership passes a simple test: Does it make energy more reliable and affordable for the people TVA serves? If not, it’s the wrong direction.
Trump’s new nominees have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to restore trust and accountability at TVA. The Senate’s confirmation of these nominees for TVA’s board is a chance to chart a new course for one of Tennessee’s and the larger region’s most influential institutions.
We need board members who will roll up their sleeves, hold the agency accountable and keep TVA focused on what matters: energy independence, affordability and service to the people who actually pay the bills.
With new leadership and renewed focus, it can once again become a model of what government should be – limited, accountable and working for the people.
Walter Blanks Jr. serves as executive director of Black Americans United for Tennessee.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The U.S. Marshals Service is asking for the public’s help in locating a Tennessee man wanted on a second-degree murder charge.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, 38-year-old Jesse Wayne Phillips is wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities said Phillips was last known to be in Clinton County, Kentucky, on May 28.
The Marshals Service said Phillips has an extensive violent criminal history and should be considered armed and dangerous.
Phillips is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes. Authorities said he is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 225 pounds.
Officials are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Phillips’ arrest.
Anyone with information about Phillips’ whereabouts is asked to contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-WANTED2 or call 911. Tips can also be submitted by email to USMStips@usdoj.gov.
Authorities urged the public not to approach Phillips and instead contact law enforcement immediately if he is seen.
When the University of Tennessee opens the Neyland Entertainment District in 2028, it’ll be among the first colleges with an on-campus mixed-use sports entertainment development, but far from the last.
About a dozen universities are building entertainment districts with restaurants, retail, hotels, condos, conference centers and green spaces alongside their stadium or arena.
Iowa State’s CyTown and Wake Forest’s The Grounds will open in 2027. Kansas will open its Gateway District in 2028.
Other examples already exist. Arizona State’s Novus Place district connects Tempe Town Lake to its football stadium like UT envisions blending the Tennessee Riverfront into the Neyland Entertainment District. And Florida State’s College Town has become a year-round hub for students in addition to gamedays.
In the SEC, a few schools are at various stages of building or planning their own entertainment district as they watch Tennessee take the first steps in sort of an arms race involving public-private partnerships in this era of college sports.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey praised Tennessee, telling Knox News that the Neyland Entertainment District plans “seem quite well thought out and intentional.”
UT will begin work in July with the demolition of the G10 garage, the future site of its ambitious development.
Let’s look at other entertainment districts and how they’ll compare to Neyland Entertainment District.
How Neyland Entertainment District is proactive rather than reactive
Some schools are developing a sports entertainment district to solve a problem.
Florida State had a rundown neighborhood in Tallahassee between Doak Campbell Stadium and Donald L. Tucker Civic Center that fans avoided after dark on gamedays. The College Town district was completed on that site in 2019, transforming the area into a gameday hub with shops, sports bars, restaurants and a boutique hotel.
North Dakota State is developing an entertainment district next to the Fargodome with outdoor plazas featuring retractable roofs, inviting fans to spend money around the stadium during cold weather.
Similarly, mid-major schools are trying to give fans more reasons to attend games and hang around long after the stadium has closed.
South Florida has strong attendance for an American Conference program, but it wants to grow further. The USF Fletcher District, a $268 million development, is being built in Tampa with that in mind.
Opening in 2028, it will feature retail, restaurants, student apartments and a hotel with “an impressive view of USF’s new on-campus stadium set against the downtown skyline in the distance.”
Tennessee has made a similar pledge with a condo-hotel featuring a rooftop bar overlooking Neyland Stadium.
But the difference is that Tennessee doesn’t have a noticeable gameday problem. It touts among college football’s largest stadiums, highest attendance and best gameday atmospheres.
Critics say Tennessee is solving a problem that doesn’t exist. But UT leaders believe they are ahead of the competition.
“We are going to be pursuing public-private partnerships in almost everything we try to do going forward to move the university to the next level,” UT Chancellor Donde Plowman said. “This is one very bold and dramatic opportunity.”
Notably, many other universities are planning entertainment districts like UT, only a few years behind, and they include SEC schools.
These SEC schools are planning entertainment districts
Some SEC schools are landlocked, and others see their best opportunities off campus.
Oklahoma’s Rock Creek Entertainment District, a $1.1 billion development, is being built six miles from the Norman campus. It will be anchored by a new Sooners basketball and gymnastics arena, hoping to sustain better game attendance.
LSU wants to build a new basketball arena and entertainment district on its current golf course on campus in Baton Rouge. But it’s hit several snags, including a lawsuit challenging a proposed sales tax increase to build the development. That will likely stall LSU’s project for a few years.
But where there’s room, some SEC schools are trying to wedge an entertainment district alongside their stadium or arena. UT’s entertainment district will be built between Neyland Stadium and Food City Center.
Ole Miss will break ground on a 25-acre entertainment district surrounding Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford as early as 2027, putting it about a year behind Tennessee. Like the Neyland Entertainment District, the Ole Miss version will include a condo-hotel, restaurants, retail and a team store.
South Carolina is renovating Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, but an adjacent entertainment district is still in the developmental stage. The university owns nearly 900 acres next to the stadium, but almost all of it is in a flood zone. Working through that problem could delay the district for a few years.
Kentucky is finalizing its plans for a Kroger Field entertainment district in Lexington. The initial design called for most of the completion in 2027, but that appears unlikely because the project hasn’t broken ground yet.
First, UK must demolish Bluegrass Community and Technical College at the site of the future entertainment district.
Has Tennessee solved problems that other schools face?
Tennessee announced the Neyland Entertainment District in 2023, and brainstorming on the project began long before that. UT has already solved many of the problems that other schools are encountering.
LSU is amid a funding fight over its proposed entertainment district. But UT Chief Financial Officer David Miller said Tennessee will rake in revenue while bearing no financial risk in the $280 million Neyland project.
UT will finance an estimated $83 million to build the new G10 garage through Tennessee State School Bonds, which is typical for parking garages on campus. And the university will collect parking revenue.
Otherwise, UT will put no money into the project and act as landlord. The developer will pay UT an annual base rent of $1.5 million plus between 3-5% of gross revenue above $25 million annually from the condo-hotel and entertainment space in separate payments.
South Carolina would lose almost seven acres of parking to build its entertainment district, so it must account for that complication. But Tennessee plans to build the Neyland Entertainment District vertically and add parking spaces in a new G10 garage.
Fan frustration comes with every entertainment district
But all these entertainment districts come with growing pains that fans must endure.
Frustrated Wake Forest fans have dealt with gameday traffic and parking problems during the construction of a $250 million entertainment district called The Grounds. And it’s still a year away from completion.
Tennessee fans have already voiced their concerns about potential parking issues when the G10 garage is unavailable in the 2026 football season.
Kansas will have limited capacity for home football games in 2026 because one side of its stadium in Lawrence is a construction zone, including the adjacent entertainment district. The restaurants, hotel and parking garage won’t be complete until 2028, and some Jayhawk fans wonder if it’s worth the headache.
A quick search of fan message boards where these entertainment districts are planned reveals common complaints.
Is the university prioritizing money over academics? Will the traditional campus vibe be replaced by a strip mall? Does a boutique hotel cater to elite donors over common fans?
Those questions are being asked across numerous college fan bases, and perhaps they’ll be answered. But it appears entertainment districts are here to stay in college sports.
Tennessee will be among the first but certainly not the last.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
Enter your email and we’ll send a secure one-click link to sign in.
WKRN is provided by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., and uses the My Nexstar sign-in, which works across our media network.
Learn more at nexstar.tv/privacy-policy.
WKRN is provided by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., and uses the My Nexstar sign-in, which works across our media network.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is a leading, diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports, and entertainment content across its television and digital platforms. The My Nexstar sign-in works across the Nexstar network—including The CW, NewsNation, The Hill, and more. Learn more at nexstar.tv/privacy-policy.
-
Technology1 minute agoDo not click fake ‘account recovery’ Amazon email
-
Business6 minutes agoThe FBI serves a search warrant at the Garden Grove chemical plant
-
Entertainment13 minutes agoBill Cody, the voice of WSM Radio and the Grand Ole Opry, dies at 67
-
Lifestyle16 minutes agoInside Farfetch’s Strategy for a New Era of Luxury Experience
-
Politics21 minutes agoDemocrat Fiona Ma, Republican Gloria Romero to face off in race for lieutenant governor
-
Science28 minutes agoUC Davis favored less qualified Black, Latino med school applicants, Justice Department claims
-
Sports31 minutes agoWith eyes of world on Mexico City, El Tri kicks off 2026 World Cup against South Africa
-
World43 minutes agoTrade and defence top of agenda at EU-South Korea summit
