Electrical Power and the TVA

Electrical Power and the TVA. . , The completion of the Hale's Bar Lock and Dam in 1913 created a slack water lake that drowned the treacherous shoals south of Chattanooga. At the same time, it provided electrical power to a growing city. The success of this venture, coupled with that of the first Ococe Dam, led many in the Tennessee Valley to believe that the best approach to the Muscle Shoals was to submerge them. After America joined World War I, Woodrow Wilson chose Muscle Shoals as the site for a dam which could provide electricity for the war effort while it was needed, but which, in peacetime, could be turned to the production of nitrates for agricultural use. , , The Wilson Dam was begun in 1917 but not completed until after the war. Its future was then the subject of heated debate for 15 years. Supporters on one side of this debate favored giving private companies the management of the facility and the distribution of its products. Others, like Nebraska senator George Norris, thought the best course was to develop the entire river system, leaving it in the control of the government, and making the power available to the communities within the valley. The debate (but not the disagreement) was ended in 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt suggested, and Congress created, the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA was given the responsibility for developing the entire watershed area for increased navigability, flood control, production of electricity, and proper use of lands in an area which includes portions of seven states (Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi). Private electricity companies did not believe they could compete with an entity backed by the money of the Federal government, so they filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of TVA and its charter. When these suits were decided in TVA's favor, companies like the Tennessee Electric Power Company sold their properties and improvements to TVA. The municipalities that would receive electricity from the Authority also contributed to this buyout. , , Chattanooga's share of the Tennessee Electric Power Company buyout was over ten million dollars, but TVA spent nearly forty million constructing the Chickamauga Dam, pictured at left. Most of this cost was simply the labor and material required to build a 5,800 foot dam, but in the creation of a lake nearly sixty miles long with over 800 miles of shoreline, much land was necessarily submerged. TVA purchased the land from property owners in the Harrison and Dallas areas and all the land to be covered by water was cleared of buildings and trees. The dam was completed on January 15, 1940, and two years later contributed to America's war effort by producing electricity used by Chattanooga's industries. TVA contributed in other ways as well, producing fertilizer for increased food production, producing chemicals for use in explosives, and clearing a 60,000 acre forest now known as Oak Ridge, where weapons of incredible destructive force were developed. , , TVA continued to be important for the government after the war, because of its ability to produce large amounts of electricity. Aerospace work in Tullahoma and the projects of NASA in Huntsville both require huge amounts of power, and as part of its effort to produce these significant stores of electricity, TVA quickly developed nuclear power facilities. Controversy has surrounded these plants from their inception, and the last decade has seen increased concern over the necessity, cost, and safety of these facilities. TVA is no stranger to controversy, however, for the debate began before they received their charter, and it has been revived many times. As the debate continues, TVA will continue to pursue their mission, which is to provide energy and related services to a growing community.