June 27, 2025 • 30 mins
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was established in 1933 as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal to address economic development and infrastructure needs in the Tennessee Valley region. Today it provides electricity for nearly 10 million people across seven southeastern states, primarily through hydroelectric, nuclear, and fossil fuel power plants. TVA also plays a key role in managing natural resources, including flood control, navigation, and land conservation. On this episode of Tennessee Matters, John Clark talks with Justin Maierhofer, TVA's Senior VP & Chief of Government Relations. Website: https://www.tva.com/
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Tennessee Matters on the Tennessee Radio Network. Welcome to
Tennessee Matters. I'm John Clark and the Tennessee Radio Network.
The Tennessee Value Authorities Mission remains to serve the people
of its seven state service area and help the region
grow and thrive. TVA provides reliable and resilient power for
homes and businesses, manages the Tennessee River System for flood control,
(00:23):
environmental sustainability, power production, recreation, and economic development, and a
partner with local and state leaders to recruit industry and
help the region prosper. Here today to talk about the
Tennessee Value Authority is Justin Meyerhoffer, the senior vice president
and chief of government Relations. Well, what is TVA? First
of all, talk about what it stands for and what
it means.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So, John, TVA is really an American energy success story.
We've been around for a little over ninety two years now.
We were founded in nineteen thirty three for what we
call the three ease mission, Energy, environmental stewardship, and the
economic development. And I always like to say our job
is to keep the lights glowing and the river flowing,
(01:04):
and the valley growing and that's pretty good. Yeah, Yeah,
that's the bumper sticker, John. But that's the core of
TVA's mission. And I'll tell you what you know, solving
complex challenges. It's been in our DNA for a long time,
and we use innovation and partnerships to drive that mission forward.
And we work with about one hundred and fifty three
(01:26):
local power company customers as an example, Nashville Electric Service,
Knoxville Utility, Forward, and Winchester Utilities, and one hundred and
fifty three or one hundred and fifty others who provide
electricity to about ten million residents across seven states in
the southeast. And John, the other thing we do is
we maintained the Tennessee River Watershed, which the University of
(01:50):
Tennessee did a study on and they said that we
provide a bout of recreational value at about twelve billion
dollars a year for harnessing that Tennessee over flood controlled navigation,
you know, support a lot of good mass fishing throughout
the region. And then finally that economic development piece of
our mission. Over the last five years, John, we've helped
(02:13):
create about almost fifty billion dollars in projected capital investment,
which which has brought about ninety five thousand new jobs
and retain more than two hundred and thirty five thousand
jobs to the Tennessee Valley region. And we do you know,
economic developments, a team sport. We do that with a
lot of local communities across the region and state partners.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Wow, you do a lot of stuff we do, we do.
It was that didn't it start when Roosevelt was president?
He started something to do with the history of America
or something like.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That, which it sure did, it sure did, John. And
and there's this there's this odd word maybe today, but
but TVA was founded in as a bipartisan program. There
was a there was a Republican senator from Nebraska. His
name was George Norris, and John George Norris kind of
(03:05):
shepherded the TVA legislation through the United States Congress, and
he found a willing partner and a supporter in Franklin Roosevelt.
So when President Roosevelt signed.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The TVA Act on May.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Eighteenth, nineteen thirty three, one of the things he said
was power is actually a secondary matter. He really wanted
TVA to improve the over overall quality of life.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, the people that live.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
And work and raise their families in the Tennessee Valley region.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Did he did? Then they take that and apply it
in other states to what you do in Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Well, yeah, you know, there's public power pockets across the country.
I mean, that's a fact check me on this one.
I think there's over two thousand public power systems across
the country. But TVA was really built, John, in nineteen
thirty three, and we received power appropriations to basically, you know,
(04:08):
fund provide the electricity to fund the World War two
effort here in the country. Okay, So so Uncle Sam
you know, provided some monetary support for us to build
those dams as quickly as possible to harness the hydro
electric power that's on the Tennessee River. And we did that,
and then we really got into the you know, building
(04:29):
coal plants to provide even more electricity across the valley.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And from here it goes on and on and on
from there. Now you're having to do a lot and
more now. But with the amount of people coming into Tennessee, we.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Really are John, I mean, we've got you know, I
always like to say, John, that growth is really our
biggest opportunity, but that gum, it's also our biggest challenge
facing our region.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I mean, we've got we've got, you know, just in.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
The last two January January twenty twenty four. In January
twenty twenty we met two consecutive all time peak power
demands and you know that was that was north of
thirty four thousand megawatts. To give you a sense of
perspective there, one thousand megawatts provides electricity to about seven
(05:18):
hundred thousand homes.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Wow, that's a lot. That's a lot of electricity, a
lot of electricity, and it just seem seems you have
to find a way to to get more out of
what you're doing now with it.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, we really do, John, And we've got you
know today are you know. So we've sort of gone
from hydro electric to to coal to maybe some nuclear
back in the seventies and eighties, uh and then and
then we really got into you know, we're still running
a lot of coal. We got four coal plants about
(05:51):
twenty four to twenty five active units. We've got three
nuclear plants. We've got twenty nine hydro electric dams, we
got a pump storage hydro electric plant, John, which is
right outside of Chattanooga called Raccoon Mountain, Okay. And then
and then we've got nine natural gas combustion turbine gas plants,
(06:12):
eight natural gas combined cycle gas plants, got a little
bit of solar generation, and then we got a diesel
generator site. Wow, so we got you know, I always
like to say, John, we got a you know, you know,
like a lot of financial advisors talk about you you
should really have a diverse financial portfolio, right.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Tv A TVA has a.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Diverse energy fuel mix which really helps us d risk
you know, like if the price of natural gas goes
goes goes higher, price of nuclear fuel goes higher, then
that allows us to de risk our energy fuel so
that we can really really focus on making sure that
electricity bill is as low as.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We can uh make it.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You know, when people go to their mailbox and pick
it up out of the mailbox every.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Mornth what do you do like that? Do you just
switch over to natural gas or to coal or whatever
like that? Switch over? Is that how you do it?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, we've got a we've got uh so we're running
about fifteen percent coal today, John, We've got four coal plants.
And then and then I'd say we're probably we're probably
north of thirty percent on gas.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
And then and then.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
We've got three nuclear plants with seven total nuclear units.
Ones in Decatur, Alabama, Brown's Ferry, and then the other
two are in East Tennessee at Watts Bar Nuclear and
Sequoia Nuclear Plant. And those are really you know, the
nuclear plants. They provide almost forty to forty five percent
(07:47):
of our electricity generation. They're kind of the workhorses of
the fleet. And you know, we have what's called baseload electricity,
intermediate electricity, and then peaking our electricity, and nuclear plants
are really kind of the workhorse. They're providing about nine
thousand megawatts, you know, like you take a day like today,
(08:10):
I don't know, somewhere in the eighties, we're probably hovering
around twenty thousand megawatts to twenty four thousand megawatts total.
Nuclear plants provide about nine thousand megawatts of that total
output on any given day. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Wow, So, so do you think things more nuclear is
coming come about? We're going to use more?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
We do, John, I mean, you know, the existing nuclear
fleet is tremendous, and we're really excited because we've got
you know, we've been approved for you know, license extensions
at all three of those plants. I mean, these plants
are run sixty eighty even potentially one hundred years for
Tennessee Valley ratepayers.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So we love nuclear.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I mean, it's just a great generation resource and we'd
love to you know, we're we're excited about advanced nuclear
as well.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
John.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
You know, TVA holds the only the only early site
permit for a small modular reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for this site that we've got out in East Tennessee,
right near Oakridge National Lab, which is a Department of
Energy laboratory, and it's it's at the Clint River site.
(09:25):
And we actually just submitted a construction permit.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Application in May, John.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
May, I think it was May twenty second, and that
applic and we submitted that to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
and that application is basically the blueprint for the plant's
design and safety systems, and the NRC's got to approve
those plans before we could ever begin construction. We've also
we've also applied for an eight hundred million dollar grant
(09:53):
from the US Department of Energy, and we had a good,
good coalition of partners there, including Duke Energy, ge Hatti
G and then the state of Tennessee has been under
Governor Lee and his leadership, they have been tremendously supportive
of everything TVA is done on nuclear.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah. So in those those like those situations where you
had to submit something like that, do you I mean,
obviously you have to know well in advance of this,
but when you submit it, how long do you have
to wait for that to get the approval?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So I think it's expected it would take up to
maybe eighteen to twenty four months for that design. It's
a ge Hatachi it designed small major reactor. It's called
the BWRX three hundred John and it would it would
you know? I would say it's somewhere in that time
window of eighteen months to twenty four months that it'll
(10:46):
go under a view by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And you have to be ready for it when it comes,
when it's approved to start with it, to start working
with it. Is that what you do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, so TV Yeah, So TVA.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
With our partners, we would be basically the cusp of
ge as that that they would be in charge of
getting the you know that that design approved and then
we would we uh uh you know, pending support hopefully
from the federal government. You know, the State of Tennessee
has already invested. You know, the governor lead sponsored a
(11:20):
basically a nuclear energy Economic Development Fund where where he
has uh uh and his Economic Development Commissioner, Stuart mccorter,
they have put together this program, John, where they actually
incentivize companies that are involved in nuclear energy to come
to come to the State of Tennessee and and start
(11:42):
their operations to basically start creating the workforce, workforce and
the pipeline of products and inventory and components and machine
parts that will support the nuclear energy industry of the future.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Okay, So your your role as senior vice president and
the chief of Government Government Relations, your your GOVT Relations
part takes takes precedent doing his time, right, is that
as you do? Now, do you have to work on
the govient?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I do?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I do, John, I've been I've been blessed to be
at h A serve at TVA since two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Uh. I actually came to tv A.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Uh from the US Department of Energy Back in two
thousand and two. I worked in the House. I worked
in the Senate up in Washington. I worked for a
former UH and the late Senator Paul Coverdale from Georgia
and and UH and and today I've I've had the
I've had the opportunity over the course of my career
(12:42):
to to serve as chiefs of staff, who are three
of our CEOs. And and now I'm a senior vice
president for Government and Community Relations. And a big part
of what I do, John, is is really work with
our you know, local and state and federal officials across
the seven states that we serve to make sure that
they're you know, because we're not an investor owned utility,
(13:05):
we're public powers. So our shareholders are the federal government,
the Congress. You know, John, It's I always think about
it this way. When your mission is written in congressional statue,
like TVA's mission is, it becomes very clear what you
should be waking up every day and focusing on.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's exactly very clear. Yeah. Is
is there a public service commission or up in some
type that has to approve what you do TVA?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah? So, John, we have a nine.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Member board of directors that serves on a part time basis.
From nineteen thirty three until about two thousand and five,
we had a three member full time board that was
that was nominated to serve by the President of the
United States and they're confirmed by the United States Senate.
In two thousand and five, Majority Leader from Tennessee, Senator
(13:59):
Bill Frist.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Revised with with with with.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
A lot of the TVA delegation, they opened up the
TVA Act and they revised the statute.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And we we've shifted in the last.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Twenty years to where we have a nine member part
time board that is still nominated by the President and
confirmed by the Senate, but that board hires a chief
executive officer to run TVA, So the day to day
business falls under the jurisdiction of the CEO, and the
part time board really kind of sets the strategy for
(14:33):
the next five to ten years and and they go
through there. You know, they have four board meetings a
year and they you know, they work with.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
The executive team to to.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Make sure we're all standing focused and all the you know,
ten thousand.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
TVA employees.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Across the region who serve and they work with them
every day to fulfill our mission.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Did they all show this board. Does it set the
the rates that people pay for TVA.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yes, sir, they do, Yeah, John, They as a board,
as a federal government corporation, the part time board has
the responsibility to set the strategy, and then they are
responsible for the rates for our local power company customers
and the direct serve customs.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Okay, and then they as what about your employees? You
mentioned ten thousand employees, about how many you have? You
have more than that? How doney?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Many have?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We're give or take a few there, John, But I'd
say ten thousand TVA employees, we got about twenty two
thousand retirees across the region, you know, and a lot
of these men and women. I think it's eighteen or
nineteen percent of those ten thousand, so you figure almost
two thousand of those are military veterans. We hire a
(15:52):
lot of you know, welders, pipe fitters, skilled craft labors
certainly iman uh.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
And then uh, you.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Know, we also have everything, I would say, John, from
an archaeologist to a zoologist. Wow, everything in between. And
we do a whole lot of hiring out of the
nuclear Navy for our nuclear fleet. Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah, I was going to say that when you were
talking about that earlier. You had some really have to
get some really smart people hired to do this work.
You really do, you know, we.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Really do, John, And it's you know, we need we
need college graduates, we need community college graduates, we need
trade school graduates. Uh. We need folks across the spectrum
for our future workforce.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So we we spend a whole lot of time John,
you know, working with schools across the region to really
get in there into those classrooms and and talk about
science and technology and engineering and math and all the
all the great really job opportunities in it. And I
say job, you know when you come in and you
work at TVA or one of our local power companies. Uh,
(17:03):
it's a career, yeah, you know, and it's a it's
a great.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Career you could provide for your families.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And it's and it's it's very rewarding because a lot
of you know, a lot of my teammates and I
we we view ourselves as as public servants because you know, John,
at the end of the day, if we have a tornado,
if we have a Hurricane Helene, if we have you know, flooding.
Uh you've probably noticed this and I bet your listeners
have have seen this. But the bucket trucks for all
(17:33):
the utilities go towards the danger, they go towards the
damage and and and they really are there to serve
and get the lights back on for important installations like
military bases, schools, hospitals, senior living facilities you know across
the country, and that they really are public servants.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
They really are. You just set them out full there
that they really are where they had those hurricanes that
come through or whatever kind of weather they are, they
are going in while we're coming out, and they really are.
And uh and they exactly right. You help out other
states too that in those situations too.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Right, we do, John, We have mutual aid agreements. So
what you'll see is, you know, linemen from TVA and
linemen from our one hundred and fifty three local power
company customers, they will if an event happens down in
Florida during hurricane season, you know, and we have a
mutual aid agreement one of our customers does, then they'll
(18:28):
get in their bucket trucks and head down I seventy
five and and go into Florida and really start supporting
the repairing the rehabilitation of the electrical system in some
of those hard hit areas.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, they really, they really do. I've seen them. I've
seen it in operation, and they really do a great job.
We owe a lot to them, that's just sure.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
We do, John, And I always and I always think
about it. You know, when when when we're all, you know,
home home with our families on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning,
and and and those ovens are are staying hot to
cook your turkey, you know, or Christmas morning when you
got the lights going on the Christmas tree, there's people
sitting in a system operations center somewhere or at a
(19:10):
nuclear plant, coal plant, gas plant. Who are who are working? Yeah,
twenty four seven three sixty five to keep your you know,
homes warm and cool and keep your lights on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Right, That's very true. That is that is that's the
rubb reis the road right there, It really is. Yeah.
What's next for TVA? What are you looking at for
the future?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, thank you for that question, John.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
We you know, with all that energy growth and energy demand,
I mean we're seeing an explosion and an artificial intelligence
data centers really across the region.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And you know, when you do a when you do.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
A chat at GPT search, it's going to require about
three times the amount of electricity as a Google search does.
So so one thing that we're really focusing on is
building new generation to meet the demands of the future.
And you know, so we've got a Cumberland combined cycle
plant which is under construction in Stuart County, Tennessee. John,
(20:07):
that's gonna be a fourteen hundred and fifty megawatt plant
on the Cumberland Reservation, slated for operation by twenty twenty six. Uh.
We've also got aero derivative gas turbines going in and
or Johnsonville Combustion Turbine plant, which is in Humphreys County, Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That's gonna that's.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Gonna drop in them another five hundred megawats to our grid.
And the cool thing about an aero derivative plant, John,
is it's basically a cold engine that goes to full
power in less than five minutes, which which which really
means they're easily dispatchable during the peak demand times. So
like that that you know that cold January morning or
(20:47):
that hot July afternoon at five o'clock. Uh, those aero
derivative plants can get cranked up and going.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
And then and then I'd.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Say the you know, the other the other kind of
neat thing for us, John is we over at Kingston
Energy Complex and Rohan County, Tennessee, which is kind of
East Tennessee near Knoxville. We're building we're building one hundred
and fifty megawatts of combined cycle gas and dual fuel
AUO derivative natural gas combustion turbines. But we're also doing
(21:16):
a hunter megawats of battery storage and that natural gas
generation should be online by the end of twenty twenty seven. Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Man, that's a that's what we got a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
That's a lot in the pipeline, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
And we're also looking at you know, we're looking at
you know, we're we're currently in the National Environmental Policy
Act process places like Cheatham County, Tennessee, which is just
west of Davidson County, you know, Middle Tennessee. The whole
Tennessee Valley region, John is growing at three times the
national average.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And and and.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
So we're we're we're looking at a potential you know,
simple cycle combined you know, uh, gas plant out in
Cheatham County to support electrical generation. You know, we're almost John,
we're I would characterize this as we're a victim of
our own success. Everybody wants to move to the southeast
right right, and and and and raise their their kids here,
(22:17):
find their jobs here, and live here because they love
the low taxes, they love less regulation, they like they
like inexpensive electricity.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
And and that makes it, that makes.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
A difference when people are trying to figure out where
to you know, raise their families. And we're doing everything
we can to you know, work with communities as we
go forward across.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
The seven states.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
We serve you know, to to when we go in
and build electrical generation, to be a good community partner
and a good corporate neighbor.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah. Yeah, it takes a lot of work for that
plug you're plugged that you you plug something in, you
want it to work, and it takes a lot of
work to make that work. All that, all this all
this together.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yeah, that's right. And and and John, I got three
kids at home, you know, teenagers, and you know they're
always charging their cell phones, their iPads there, you know,
their their their headphones and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
And I can tell.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You probably very very rarely do they.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Think about when they flip that switch, when they.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Plug in that you know, wall charger, are they thinking
about where that electricity is coming from? Right?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
That's right?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Well, unfortunately, fortunately they live with me, so I try
to explain it to them periodically.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, well, you know, I'm looking at today before we
don't I've been doing the microphone and everything else set
up to go. It takes a lot of work for
you from you to do what I do. It takes
a lot of work, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It does. And we've almost I think to some extent, John,
I think we've taken it for granted almost in this country. Uh,
you know, but to build in building infrastructure, and investing
in infrastructure, investing in people, you know who can maintain
and build that infrastructure.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I mean, it's an.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Important part of American and I love what I'm seeing
coming out of the you know, the administration as far
as you know, American energy, renaissance, rebirth dominance. We really
need to be focusing on on on building a lot
of these components in these parts domestically and keep that
(24:28):
supply chain going so we can really invest in the
infrastructure to keep the lights on and to fuel these
data centers artificial intelligence of the future, because we are
absolutely going to be in an AI arms race with China,
so we need to do everything we can to support
the direction this country needs to go.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Well, it sounds like TVA is right on it, and
certainly you know what's coming up down the pike, so
you can go ahead and prepare for it. You're doing
a good job. I appreciate that very much. So I
appreciate you taking time to talk to you. What is
that you said you you said before when we first started,
you said that your TVA is responsible for what was
(25:05):
it the comment you.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Made, Yeah, Yeah, we're responsible. We have a three e's
mission at TVA, which is an energy, environmental stewardship and
economic development. And I always like to say the bomber
sticker should say, John, we keep the lights glowing, we
keep the river flowing, and we keep the valley growing.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
That's right. I like that. I like that very much.
That says it all. Thank you to thank you so
much for taking time to talk today. It's been a
pleasure meeting Justin.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
John.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Thank you so much for the opportunity. We appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
That's Justin Meyerhoffer TVA Senior vice president and chief of
government Relations. You can find out more online at TVA
dot com. Matthew Sweet, the alternative rocker known for the
ninety hit Girlfriend, suffers a debilitating stroke on tour. Russell
Carter and Adrian Carter, who plays in his band, give
us the details.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Matthew was on tour doing some dates with Hanson and
some headline dates, and they drove up to Canada, acrossing
the border. We're checking into a hotel in Toronto, and
Matthew did started feeling ill and wasn't.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Sure what was going on, but he conveyed.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
To the tour manager that he really felt bad, and
then he said, I honestly think maybe I should go
to a hospital. So Adrian, who's on with us right
now is the musical director and guitarist in the band,
and Evan, the tour manager, just called an ambulance immediately,
and fortunately they're the major Toronto hospital. Adrian was just
(26:39):
right down the street.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Fortunately, you know, Matthew gave us the high sign he
wasn't feeling well, and within ten minutes we were in
an ambulance and you know, out the door of the
emergency room and eventually a Toronto Western Hospital where he
was treated and stabilized.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
That is so critical when you get when you deal
with stroke, getting getting there quickly. And you guys got
him there quickly. So how is he as of now?
Right now?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
So he was in Toronto for about a week and
then the doctors authorized him to be transferred to his
hometown in Omaha, Nebraska. They approved a rehab therapy hospital
and gave us the names of an ambulance transport plane
(27:24):
that is a safe way to fly with two nurses,
I mean, had a staff on. So he was transferred
to Omaha and checked right into rehab therapy hospital and
they've run tests and diagnosed to the best they can
and started therapy right away.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And you have a GoFundMe page set up right now?
How can people go to that page and give money? Now?
As I understand, he had no insurance, did he?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
He did not?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
And so this is very expensive, very very expensive. So
where's your go fund me page? How can you go
and get people go and give money to that right now?
Speaker 5 (27:59):
So I search Matthew Sweet on GoFundMe dot com. It'll
come right up. I mean, we've been really lucky to
have an outpouring of support from his fans and his friends,
just community in general. But we've got the page set
up there. It's easy to find, just a Google search away,
and we're hoping to meet our goal sometime this weekend
as possible, which is really a wonderful surprise to all
(28:22):
of us that we're able to get so close so quickly,
and it means a lot.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Are you guys able to go see him?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Not yet yet.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Not yet.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
His family, his wife and his niece who lived with
him are visiting him, helping out. But I think it's
a little early for us to fly out there and visit.
He needs to concentrate right now on the therapy.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Well, let's pray for him and hope he's going to
do well, and we'll keep him in our prayers, that's
for sure, and we'll get the people to donate.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
Just to give you a timeline, they've suggested that he
should be there and then go home and start doing
outpatient therapy from there. And it's hard to project how
long it takes to get back to full health, but
basically they're saying once he gets out, it could be
six months, it could be a year, but he's just
got to stick to it.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
One day we'll see him playtic guitar again on stage.
One day. He's going to be back, absolutely because he needs.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
You need to.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Go fund me where you can look up Matthew Sweet
and support Matthew Sweet's stroke recovery. For questions and comments
about today's program, you can email me, John Clark at
iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you
next week right here in your local radio station on
Tennessee Matters
It's Tennessee Matters on the Tennessee Radio Network. Welcome to
Tennessee Matters. I'm John Clark and the Tennessee Radio Network.
The Tennessee Value Authorities Mission remains to serve the people
of its seven state service area and help the region
grow and thrive. TVA provides reliable and resilient power for
homes and businesses, manages the Tennessee River System for flood control,
(00:23):
environmental sustainability, power production, recreation, and economic development, and a
partner with local and state leaders to recruit industry and
help the region prosper. Here today to talk about the
Tennessee Value Authority is Justin Meyerhoffer, the senior vice president
and chief of government Relations. Well, what is TVA? First
of all, talk about what it stands for and what
it means.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So, John, TVA is really an American energy success story.
We've been around for a little over ninety two years now.
We were founded in nineteen thirty three for what we
call the three ease mission, Energy, environmental stewardship, and the
economic development. And I always like to say our job
is to keep the lights glowing and the river flowing,
(01:04):
and the valley growing and that's pretty good. Yeah, Yeah,
that's the bumper sticker, John. But that's the core of
TVA's mission. And I'll tell you what you know, solving
complex challenges. It's been in our DNA for a long time,
and we use innovation and partnerships to drive that mission forward.
And we work with about one hundred and fifty three
(01:26):
local power company customers as an example, Nashville Electric Service,
Knoxville Utility, Forward, and Winchester Utilities, and one hundred and
fifty three or one hundred and fifty others who provide
electricity to about ten million residents across seven states in
the southeast. And John, the other thing we do is
we maintained the Tennessee River Watershed, which the University of
(01:50):
Tennessee did a study on and they said that we
provide a bout of recreational value at about twelve billion
dollars a year for harnessing that Tennessee over flood controlled navigation,
you know, support a lot of good mass fishing throughout
the region. And then finally that economic development piece of
our mission. Over the last five years, John, we've helped
(02:13):
create about almost fifty billion dollars in projected capital investment,
which which has brought about ninety five thousand new jobs
and retain more than two hundred and thirty five thousand
jobs to the Tennessee Valley region. And we do you know,
economic developments, a team sport. We do that with a
lot of local communities across the region and state partners.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Wow, you do a lot of stuff we do, we do.
It was that didn't it start when Roosevelt was president?
He started something to do with the history of America
or something like.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That, which it sure did, it sure did, John. And
and there's this there's this odd word maybe today, but
but TVA was founded in as a bipartisan program. There
was a there was a Republican senator from Nebraska. His
name was George Norris, and John George Norris kind of
(03:05):
shepherded the TVA legislation through the United States Congress, and
he found a willing partner and a supporter in Franklin Roosevelt.
So when President Roosevelt signed.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
The TVA Act on May.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Eighteenth, nineteen thirty three, one of the things he said
was power is actually a secondary matter. He really wanted
TVA to improve the over overall quality of life.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, the people that live.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
And work and raise their families in the Tennessee Valley region.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Did he did? Then they take that and apply it
in other states to what you do in Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Well, yeah, you know, there's public power pockets across the country.
I mean, that's a fact check me on this one.
I think there's over two thousand public power systems across
the country. But TVA was really built, John, in nineteen
thirty three, and we received power appropriations to basically, you know,
(04:08):
fund provide the electricity to fund the World War two
effort here in the country. Okay, So so Uncle Sam
you know, provided some monetary support for us to build
those dams as quickly as possible to harness the hydro
electric power that's on the Tennessee River. And we did that,
and then we really got into the you know, building
(04:29):
coal plants to provide even more electricity across the valley.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
And from here it goes on and on and on
from there. Now you're having to do a lot and
more now. But with the amount of people coming into Tennessee, we.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Really are John, I mean, we've got you know, I
always like to say, John, that growth is really our
biggest opportunity, but that gum, it's also our biggest challenge
facing our region.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I mean, we've got we've got, you know, just in.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
The last two January January twenty twenty four. In January
twenty twenty we met two consecutive all time peak power
demands and you know that was that was north of
thirty four thousand megawatts. To give you a sense of
perspective there, one thousand megawatts provides electricity to about seven
(05:18):
hundred thousand homes.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Wow, that's a lot. That's a lot of electricity, a
lot of electricity, and it just seem seems you have
to find a way to to get more out of
what you're doing now with it.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
You know, we really do, John, And we've got you
know today are you know. So we've sort of gone
from hydro electric to to coal to maybe some nuclear
back in the seventies and eighties, uh and then and
then we really got into you know, we're still running
a lot of coal. We got four coal plants about
(05:51):
twenty four to twenty five active units. We've got three
nuclear plants. We've got twenty nine hydro electric dams, we
got a pump storage hydro electric plant, John, which is
right outside of Chattanooga called Raccoon Mountain, Okay. And then
and then we've got nine natural gas combustion turbine gas plants,
(06:12):
eight natural gas combined cycle gas plants, got a little
bit of solar generation, and then we got a diesel
generator site. Wow, so we got you know, I always
like to say, John, we got a you know, you know,
like a lot of financial advisors talk about you you
should really have a diverse financial portfolio, right.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Tv A TVA has a.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Diverse energy fuel mix which really helps us d risk
you know, like if the price of natural gas goes
goes goes higher, price of nuclear fuel goes higher, then
that allows us to de risk our energy fuel so
that we can really really focus on making sure that
electricity bill is as low as.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We can uh make it.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You know, when people go to their mailbox and pick
it up out of the mailbox every.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Mornth what do you do like that? Do you just
switch over to natural gas or to coal or whatever
like that? Switch over? Is that how you do it?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, we've got a we've got uh so we're running
about fifteen percent coal today, John, We've got four coal plants.
And then and then I'd say we're probably we're probably
north of thirty percent on gas.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
And then and then.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
We've got three nuclear plants with seven total nuclear units.
Ones in Decatur, Alabama, Brown's Ferry, and then the other
two are in East Tennessee at Watts Bar Nuclear and
Sequoia Nuclear Plant. And those are really you know, the
nuclear plants. They provide almost forty to forty five percent
(07:47):
of our electricity generation. They're kind of the workhorses of
the fleet. And you know, we have what's called baseload electricity,
intermediate electricity, and then peaking our electricity, and nuclear plants
are really kind of the workhorse. They're providing about nine
thousand megawatts, you know, like you take a day like today,
(08:10):
I don't know, somewhere in the eighties, we're probably hovering
around twenty thousand megawatts to twenty four thousand megawatts total.
Nuclear plants provide about nine thousand megawatts of that total
output on any given day. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Wow, So, so do you think things more nuclear is
coming come about? We're going to use more?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
We do, John, I mean, you know, the existing nuclear
fleet is tremendous, and we're really excited because we've got
you know, we've been approved for you know, license extensions
at all three of those plants. I mean, these plants
are run sixty eighty even potentially one hundred years for
Tennessee Valley ratepayers.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So we love nuclear.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I mean, it's just a great generation resource and we'd
love to you know, we're we're excited about advanced nuclear
as well.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
John.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
You know, TVA holds the only the only early site
permit for a small modular reactor from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for this site that we've got out in East Tennessee,
right near Oakridge National Lab, which is a Department of
Energy laboratory, and it's it's at the Clint River site.
(09:25):
And we actually just submitted a construction permit.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Application in May, John.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
May, I think it was May twenty second, and that
applic and we submitted that to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
and that application is basically the blueprint for the plant's
design and safety systems, and the NRC's got to approve
those plans before we could ever begin construction. We've also
we've also applied for an eight hundred million dollar grant
(09:53):
from the US Department of Energy, and we had a good,
good coalition of partners there, including Duke Energy, ge Hatti
G and then the state of Tennessee has been under
Governor Lee and his leadership, they have been tremendously supportive
of everything TVA is done on nuclear.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Yeah. So in those those like those situations where you
had to submit something like that, do you I mean,
obviously you have to know well in advance of this,
but when you submit it, how long do you have
to wait for that to get the approval?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So I think it's expected it would take up to
maybe eighteen to twenty four months for that design. It's
a ge Hatachi it designed small major reactor. It's called
the BWRX three hundred John and it would it would
you know? I would say it's somewhere in that time
window of eighteen months to twenty four months that it'll
(10:46):
go under a view by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And you have to be ready for it when it comes,
when it's approved to start with it, to start working
with it. Is that what you do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, so TV Yeah, So TVA.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
With our partners, we would be basically the cusp of
ge as that that they would be in charge of
getting the you know that that design approved and then
we would we uh uh you know, pending support hopefully
from the federal government. You know, the State of Tennessee
has already invested. You know, the governor lead sponsored a
(11:20):
basically a nuclear energy Economic Development Fund where where he
has uh uh and his Economic Development Commissioner, Stuart mccorter,
they have put together this program, John, where they actually
incentivize companies that are involved in nuclear energy to come
to come to the State of Tennessee and and start
(11:42):
their operations to basically start creating the workforce, workforce and
the pipeline of products and inventory and components and machine
parts that will support the nuclear energy industry of the future.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Okay, So your your role as senior vice president and
the chief of Government Government Relations, your your GOVT Relations
part takes takes precedent doing his time, right, is that
as you do? Now, do you have to work on
the govient?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I do?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I do, John, I've been I've been blessed to be
at h A serve at TVA since two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Uh. I actually came to tv A.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Uh from the US Department of Energy Back in two
thousand and two. I worked in the House. I worked
in the Senate up in Washington. I worked for a
former UH and the late Senator Paul Coverdale from Georgia
and and UH and and today I've I've had the
I've had the opportunity over the course of my career
(12:42):
to to serve as chiefs of staff, who are three
of our CEOs. And and now I'm a senior vice
president for Government and Community Relations. And a big part
of what I do, John, is is really work with
our you know, local and state and federal officials across
the seven states that we serve to make sure that
they're you know, because we're not an investor owned utility,
(13:05):
we're public powers. So our shareholders are the federal government,
the Congress. You know, John, It's I always think about
it this way. When your mission is written in congressional statue,
like TVA's mission is, it becomes very clear what you
should be waking up every day and focusing on.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's exactly very clear. Yeah. Is
is there a public service commission or up in some
type that has to approve what you do TVA?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah? So, John, we have a nine.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Member board of directors that serves on a part time basis.
From nineteen thirty three until about two thousand and five,
we had a three member full time board that was
that was nominated to serve by the President of the
United States and they're confirmed by the United States Senate.
In two thousand and five, Majority Leader from Tennessee, Senator
(13:59):
Bill Frist.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Revised with with with with.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
A lot of the TVA delegation, they opened up the
TVA Act and they revised the statute.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And we we've shifted in the last.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Twenty years to where we have a nine member part
time board that is still nominated by the President and
confirmed by the Senate, but that board hires a chief
executive officer to run TVA, So the day to day
business falls under the jurisdiction of the CEO, and the
part time board really kind of sets the strategy for
(14:33):
the next five to ten years and and they go
through there. You know, they have four board meetings a
year and they you know, they work with.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
The executive team to to.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Make sure we're all standing focused and all the you know,
ten thousand.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
TVA employees.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Across the region who serve and they work with them
every day to fulfill our mission.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Did they all show this board. Does it set the
the rates that people pay for TVA.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yes, sir, they do, Yeah, John, They as a board,
as a federal government corporation, the part time board has
the responsibility to set the strategy, and then they are
responsible for the rates for our local power company customers
and the direct serve customs.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Okay, and then they as what about your employees? You
mentioned ten thousand employees, about how many you have? You
have more than that? How doney?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Many have?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
We're give or take a few there, John, But I'd
say ten thousand TVA employees, we got about twenty two
thousand retirees across the region, you know, and a lot
of these men and women. I think it's eighteen or
nineteen percent of those ten thousand, so you figure almost
two thousand of those are military veterans. We hire a
(15:52):
lot of you know, welders, pipe fitters, skilled craft labors
certainly iman uh.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
And then uh, you.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Know, we also have everything, I would say, John, from
an archaeologist to a zoologist. Wow, everything in between. And
we do a whole lot of hiring out of the
nuclear Navy for our nuclear fleet. Uh.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Yeah, I was going to say that when you were
talking about that earlier. You had some really have to
get some really smart people hired to do this work.
You really do, you know, we.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Really do, John, And it's you know, we need we
need college graduates, we need community college graduates, we need
trade school graduates. Uh. We need folks across the spectrum
for our future workforce.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So we we spend a whole lot of time John,
you know, working with schools across the region to really
get in there into those classrooms and and talk about
science and technology and engineering and math and all the
all the great really job opportunities in it. And I
say job, you know when you come in and you
work at TVA or one of our local power companies. Uh,
(17:03):
it's a career, yeah, you know, and it's a it's
a great.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Career you could provide for your families.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And it's and it's it's very rewarding because a lot
of you know, a lot of my teammates and I
we we view ourselves as as public servants because you know, John,
at the end of the day, if we have a tornado,
if we have a Hurricane Helene, if we have you know, flooding.
Uh you've probably noticed this and I bet your listeners
have have seen this. But the bucket trucks for all
(17:33):
the utilities go towards the danger, they go towards the
damage and and and they really are there to serve
and get the lights back on for important installations like
military bases, schools, hospitals, senior living facilities you know across
the country, and that they really are public servants.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
They really are. You just set them out full there
that they really are where they had those hurricanes that
come through or whatever kind of weather they are, they
are going in while we're coming out, and they really are.
And uh and they exactly right. You help out other
states too that in those situations too.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Right, we do, John, We have mutual aid agreements. So
what you'll see is, you know, linemen from TVA and
linemen from our one hundred and fifty three local power
company customers, they will if an event happens down in
Florida during hurricane season, you know, and we have a
mutual aid agreement one of our customers does, then they'll
(18:28):
get in their bucket trucks and head down I seventy
five and and go into Florida and really start supporting
the repairing the rehabilitation of the electrical system in some
of those hard hit areas.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, they really, they really do. I've seen them. I've
seen it in operation, and they really do a great job.
We owe a lot to them, that's just sure.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
We do, John, And I always and I always think
about it. You know, when when when we're all, you know,
home home with our families on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning,
and and and those ovens are are staying hot to
cook your turkey, you know, or Christmas morning when you
got the lights going on the Christmas tree, there's people
sitting in a system operations center somewhere or at a
(19:10):
nuclear plant, coal plant, gas plant. Who are who are working? Yeah,
twenty four seven three sixty five to keep your you know,
homes warm and cool and keep your lights on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Right, That's very true. That is that is that's the
rubb reis the road right there, It really is. Yeah.
What's next for TVA? What are you looking at for
the future?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, thank you for that question, John.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
We you know, with all that energy growth and energy demand,
I mean we're seeing an explosion and an artificial intelligence
data centers really across the region.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
And you know, when you do a when you do.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
A chat at GPT search, it's going to require about
three times the amount of electricity as a Google search does.
So so one thing that we're really focusing on is
building new generation to meet the demands of the future.
And you know, so we've got a Cumberland combined cycle
plant which is under construction in Stuart County, Tennessee. John,
(20:07):
that's gonna be a fourteen hundred and fifty megawatt plant
on the Cumberland Reservation, slated for operation by twenty twenty six. Uh.
We've also got aero derivative gas turbines going in and
or Johnsonville Combustion Turbine plant, which is in Humphreys County, Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
That's gonna that's.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Gonna drop in them another five hundred megawats to our grid.
And the cool thing about an aero derivative plant, John,
is it's basically a cold engine that goes to full
power in less than five minutes, which which which really
means they're easily dispatchable during the peak demand times. So
like that that you know that cold January morning or
(20:47):
that hot July afternoon at five o'clock. Uh, those aero
derivative plants can get cranked up and going.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
And then and then I'd.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Say the you know, the other the other kind of
neat thing for us, John is we over at Kingston
Energy Complex and Rohan County, Tennessee, which is kind of
East Tennessee near Knoxville. We're building we're building one hundred
and fifty megawatts of combined cycle gas and dual fuel
AUO derivative natural gas combustion turbines. But we're also doing
(21:16):
a hunter megawats of battery storage and that natural gas
generation should be online by the end of twenty twenty seven. Wow.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Man, that's a that's what we got a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
That's a lot in the pipeline, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
And we're also looking at you know, we're looking at
you know, we're we're currently in the National Environmental Policy
Act process places like Cheatham County, Tennessee, which is just
west of Davidson County, you know, Middle Tennessee. The whole
Tennessee Valley region, John is growing at three times the
national average.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And and and.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
So we're we're we're looking at a potential you know,
simple cycle combined you know, uh, gas plant out in
Cheatham County to support electrical generation. You know, we're almost John,
we're I would characterize this as we're a victim of
our own success. Everybody wants to move to the southeast
right right, and and and and raise their their kids here,
(22:17):
find their jobs here, and live here because they love
the low taxes, they love less regulation, they like they
like inexpensive electricity.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
And and that makes it, that makes.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
A difference when people are trying to figure out where
to you know, raise their families. And we're doing everything
we can to you know, work with communities as we
go forward across.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
The seven states.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
We serve you know, to to when we go in
and build electrical generation, to be a good community partner
and a good corporate neighbor.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah. Yeah, it takes a lot of work for that
plug you're plugged that you you plug something in, you
want it to work, and it takes a lot of
work to make that work. All that, all this all
this together.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yeah, that's right. And and and John, I got three
kids at home, you know, teenagers, and you know they're
always charging their cell phones, their iPads there, you know,
their their their headphones and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
And I can tell.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You probably very very rarely do they.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Think about when they flip that switch, when they.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Plug in that you know, wall charger, are they thinking
about where that electricity is coming from? Right?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
That's right?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Well, unfortunately, fortunately they live with me, so I try
to explain it to them periodically.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, well, you know, I'm looking at today before we
don't I've been doing the microphone and everything else set
up to go. It takes a lot of work for
you from you to do what I do. It takes
a lot of work, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
It does. And we've almost I think to some extent, John,
I think we've taken it for granted almost in this country. Uh,
you know, but to build in building infrastructure, and investing
in infrastructure, investing in people, you know who can maintain
and build that infrastructure.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I mean, it's an.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Important part of American and I love what I'm seeing
coming out of the you know, the administration as far
as you know, American energy, renaissance, rebirth dominance. We really
need to be focusing on on on building a lot
of these components in these parts domestically and keep that
(24:28):
supply chain going so we can really invest in the
infrastructure to keep the lights on and to fuel these
data centers artificial intelligence of the future, because we are
absolutely going to be in an AI arms race with China,
so we need to do everything we can to support
the direction this country needs to go.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Well, it sounds like TVA is right on it, and
certainly you know what's coming up down the pike, so
you can go ahead and prepare for it. You're doing
a good job. I appreciate that very much. So I
appreciate you taking time to talk to you. What is
that you said you you said before when we first started,
you said that your TVA is responsible for what was
(25:05):
it the comment you.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Made, Yeah, Yeah, we're responsible. We have a three e's
mission at TVA, which is an energy, environmental stewardship and
economic development. And I always like to say the bomber
sticker should say, John, we keep the lights glowing, we
keep the river flowing, and we keep the valley growing.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
That's right. I like that. I like that very much.
That says it all. Thank you to thank you so
much for taking time to talk today. It's been a
pleasure meeting Justin.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
John.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Thank you so much for the opportunity. We appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
That's Justin Meyerhoffer TVA Senior vice president and chief of
government Relations. You can find out more online at TVA
dot com. Matthew Sweet, the alternative rocker known for the
ninety hit Girlfriend, suffers a debilitating stroke on tour. Russell
Carter and Adrian Carter, who plays in his band, give
us the details.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Matthew was on tour doing some dates with Hanson and
some headline dates, and they drove up to Canada, acrossing
the border. We're checking into a hotel in Toronto, and
Matthew did started feeling ill and wasn't.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Sure what was going on, but he conveyed.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
To the tour manager that he really felt bad, and
then he said, I honestly think maybe I should go
to a hospital. So Adrian, who's on with us right
now is the musical director and guitarist in the band,
and Evan, the tour manager, just called an ambulance immediately,
and fortunately they're the major Toronto hospital. Adrian was just
(26:39):
right down the street.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Fortunately, you know, Matthew gave us the high sign he
wasn't feeling well, and within ten minutes we were in
an ambulance and you know, out the door of the
emergency room and eventually a Toronto Western Hospital where he
was treated and stabilized.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
That is so critical when you get when you deal
with stroke, getting getting there quickly. And you guys got
him there quickly. So how is he as of now?
Right now?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
So he was in Toronto for about a week and
then the doctors authorized him to be transferred to his
hometown in Omaha, Nebraska. They approved a rehab therapy hospital
and gave us the names of an ambulance transport plane
(27:24):
that is a safe way to fly with two nurses,
I mean, had a staff on. So he was transferred
to Omaha and checked right into rehab therapy hospital and
they've run tests and diagnosed to the best they can
and started therapy right away.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And you have a GoFundMe page set up right now?
How can people go to that page and give money? Now?
As I understand, he had no insurance, did he?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
He did not?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
And so this is very expensive, very very expensive. So
where's your go fund me page? How can you go
and get people go and give money to that right now?
Speaker 5 (27:59):
So I search Matthew Sweet on GoFundMe dot com. It'll
come right up. I mean, we've been really lucky to
have an outpouring of support from his fans and his friends,
just community in general. But we've got the page set
up there. It's easy to find, just a Google search away,
and we're hoping to meet our goal sometime this weekend
as possible, which is really a wonderful surprise to all
(28:22):
of us that we're able to get so close so quickly,
and it means a lot.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Are you guys able to go see him?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Not yet yet.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Not yet.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
His family, his wife and his niece who lived with
him are visiting him, helping out. But I think it's
a little early for us to fly out there and visit.
He needs to concentrate right now on the therapy.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Well, let's pray for him and hope he's going to
do well, and we'll keep him in our prayers, that's
for sure, and we'll get the people to donate.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
Just to give you a timeline, they've suggested that he
should be there and then go home and start doing
outpatient therapy from there. And it's hard to project how
long it takes to get back to full health, but
basically they're saying once he gets out, it could be
six months, it could be a year, but he's just
got to stick to it.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
One day we'll see him playtic guitar again on stage.
One day. He's going to be back, absolutely because he needs.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
You need to.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Go fund me where you can look up Matthew Sweet
and support Matthew Sweet's stroke recovery. For questions and comments
about today's program, you can email me, John Clark at
iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you
next week right here in your local radio station on
Tennessee Matters
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