Chattanooga Times Free Press | 15 Feb 2026 | BY SEVEN STATES POWER CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

Demand for energy is climbing while extreme weather events like Winter Storm Fern and Winter Storm Elliott continue to challenge an already constrained electric system. Fortunately, there is a ready-now solution. Seven States Power Corporation is a cooperative designed to help meet demand for affordable, abundant and reliable power.

Since the 1930s, the Tennessee River Valley has thrived under a vital network of the wholesale power provider — the Tennessee Valley Authority — and the electric utility customers that together form the public power model. More than 150 electric utility customers distribute affordable energy across a seven-state region of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.

In 2007, TVA and the electric utilities joined forces to form Seven States as an in-valley solution to finance power assets, expand energy production and modernize infrastructure.

THE ‘IN-VALLEY’ SOLUTION

Seven States is a nonprofit generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Chattanooga. It is member-owned by the electric utility customers of TVA across the seven-state region. The cooperative is uniquely positioned to operate outside established debt constraints and regulatory limitations that restrict other entities.

This means Seven States can own large power plants and transmission towers, which frees up debt for TVA to build and operate more power supply. When the electric utility customers collectively own assets through Seven States, it also ensures that rates in the region remain affordable. This flexibility allows Seven States to move quickly to supplement the valley’s energy needs with reliable sources of power.

In January 2025, Seven States was awarded $439 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consisting of a zero-interest loan and grant to build new capacity. The first initiative under this award is a utility-scale power project that will enhance grid stability and reliability, benefits that can be shared across the valley. Where demand for capital and power are soaring, Seven States makes it happen.

Seven States has a proven history of filling critical gaps when needed. One of its earliest projects with TVA was financing a large power asset — an 800-megawatt gas plant located in Southaven, Mississippi. By partnering with Seven States, the energy sector can nearly double its capital investment to accelerate generation projects. Where finances are constrained, Seven States makes it happen.

In addition, Seven States has stepped up to deliver distribution technologies that bridge the past, present and future of a modern energy grid.

With projects deployed across the valley at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Dollywood Parks and Resorts in Pigeon Forge, Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tennessee, Rock City in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and with more than 500 electric vehicle chargers installed to date, Seven States has proactively advanced infrastructure to support economic development across the region. Where innovation and infrastructure are needed, Seven States makes it happen.

In July 2025, the Seven States Board of Directors — representing 17 major electric utilities that purchase power from TVA — unanimously passed a resolution affirming Seven States as an additional supplier of abundant, reliable energy within the valley. By advancing an in-valley solution owned by the customers, the public power model can thrive and evolve from within, guided by those who know the region best.

Seven States has built a foundation for the energy future through its cooperative structure and access to affordable capital. It represents a real opportunity to expand power production and light the way for prosperity across the Valley.