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TN — Power Infrastructure Updated January 8, 2026

Tennessee

SERC Natural Gas Nuclear Solar Storage Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Tennessee’s power story is dominated by TVA, the federal utility serving 10 million people across seven states. TVA is retiring coal plants and replacing them with natural gas, advancing the nation’s first small modular reactor at Clinch River, and building out utility-scale solar and storage across the region. With Google’s Clarksville data center campus driving new transmission upgrades and TVA drafting a separate electric rate for hyperscale data centers, Tennessee sits at the center of the Southeast’s AI infrastructure buildout.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

TVA is building approximately 4,900 MW of new natural gas capacity to replace retiring coal plants and support accelerating load growth. The two flagship projects are already under construction.

  • Kingston Energy Complex (Roane County): A 1.5 GW combined-cycle plant replacing the retired Kingston coal facility, with a target in-service date of 2027.[1][2]
  • Cumberland combined-cycle plant (Cumberland City): A 1,450 MW natural gas plant slated to open in 2026.[3]
  • TVA’s 2025 IRP (integrated resource plan — the utility’s long-term blueprint for meeting demand) reports 3,500 MW of new gas capacity expected online in the next several years.[4]

Nuclear

Tennessee is home to two advanced nuclear projects: a small modular reactor application at Clinch River and a test reactor facility at Oak Ridge supporting Kairos Power’s molten-salt technology.

  • Clinch River SMR (Roane County): The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) docketed TVA’s construction permit application in July 2025 and is conducting a detailed technical review.[5]
  • Kairos Hermes 2 test reactor (Oak Ridge): The NRC issued construction permits for this demonstration facility in November 2024.[6] TVA will purchase power from Hermes 2, while Google will procure the clean-energy attributes to serve data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.[10]

Solar

TVA’s solar portfolio is growing rapidly, with approximately 3,600 MW of contracted utility-scale solar across its territory and 700 MW already online as of FY2023.[4]

  • Adamsville Solar (McNairy and Hardin counties): A 25 MW AC solar project in southwest Tennessee, with a final environmental assessment completed in February 2024.[7]
  • TVA’s draft 2025 IRP shows renewable additions are dominated by solar, with new solar averaging over 11,000 MW across planning portfolios.[4]

Transmission and Grid

TVA’s transmission buildout is accelerating to serve hyperscale data centers and manufacturing loads. Large resource additions — gas plants, nuclear, and inverter-based renewables — require new substations, longer transmission lines, and network upgrades.[4]

  • Hampton Station 500-kV substation (Montgomery County): A new 500-kV substation and associated 161-kV loop lines designed to serve Google’s Clarksville data center expansion, the LG Chem battery cathode plant, and local reliability needs. TVA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact in October 2025.[8]

Battery Storage

TVA is building out utility-scale battery storage to complement solar additions and manage grid flexibility. The system has approximately 400 MW of contracted storage across the region.[4]

  • Kingston Energy Complex BESS (Roane County): TVA issued an RFP (request for proposals) for a 100 MW battery storage system at the Kingston site in March 2025.[9]
  • Vonore battery (Monroe County): A 20 MW battery facility with commercial operations expected in fall 2024.[4]

Data Center Power Agreements

  • Google-TVA-Kairos (Hermes 2, 50 MW): TVA will purchase power from the Kairos Hermes 2 reactor, while Google will procure the clean-energy attributes to serve its data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.[10]

Interconnection Queue

TVA is confronting accelerating load growth and the need for new tariff structures to manage grid impacts and cost allocation.

  • Dedicated data center rate under consideration: TVA is exploring a separate electric rate for large data centers, signaling that hyperscale load growth is straining existing rate structures.[11]
  • Interconnection timelines as a planning constraint: TVA’s draft 2025 IRP explicitly incorporates solar and wind interconnection timelines into planning assumptions and notes that large additions require transmission upgrades, indicating queue friction and siting challenges as load accelerates.[4]

What to Watch

  • Clinch River SMR construction permit decision: The NRC’s technical review will determine whether TVA can proceed with the first licensed SMR in the United States.
  • TVA’s data center rate structure: If approved, this separate tariff could set a precedent for how utilities in the Southeast allocate costs and manage hyperscale AI loads.
  • Kingston and Cumberland commissioning: These combined-cycle plants will be TVA’s first major gas additions in years and signal the pace of coal-to-gas conversion across the Southeast.

Sources

[1] Sonal Patel. “TVA to Replace Iconic Kingston Coal Plant With 1.5-GW Modern Complex.” POWER Magazine, April 3, 2024. https://www.powermag.com/tva-to-replace-iconic-kingston-coal-plant-with-1-5-gw-modern-complex/. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[2] Allison Kiehl. “What is the Kingston Energy Complex? New TVA gas plant to open in 2027.” Knoxville News Sentinel, May 28, 2025. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2025/05/28/what-is-the-kingston-energy-complex-new-tva-gas-plant-to-open-in-2027-knoxville-east-tennessee/83879587007/. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[3] Kenya Anderson. “TVA natural gas plant in Cumberland City set to open in 2026.” The Leaf-Chronicle, July 17, 2025. https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/clarksville/2025/07/17/tva-natural-gas-plant-in-cumberland-city-set-to-open-in-2026/84528717007/. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[4] Tennessee Valley Authority. 2025 Draft Integrated Resource Plan, Volume 1. September 23, 2024. https://tva-azr-eastus-cdn-ep-tvawcm-prd.azureedge.net/cdn-tvawcma/docs/default-source/environment/environmental-stewardship/integrated-resource-plan/2025/draft-2025-irp-volume-1-092324.pdf. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[5] Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Tennessee Valley Authority; Clinch River Nuclear Site, Unit 1; Construction Permit Application.” Federal Register (public inspection document), scheduled for publication July 15, 2025; docketed July 9, 2025. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-13174.pdf. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[6] Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Kairos Power LLC; Hermes 2 Test Reactor Facility; Construction Permits.” Federal Register (public inspection document), scheduled for publication November 29, 2024; permits issued November 21, 2024. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-28025.pdf. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[7] Tennessee Valley Authority. Adamsville Solar: Final Environmental Assessment (McNairy and Hardin County, Tennessee). February 2024. https://tva-azr-eastus-cdn-ep-tvawcm-prd.azureedge.net/cdn-tvawcma/docs/default-source/environment/environmental-stewardship/nepa-environmental-reviews/final-adamsville-environmental-assessment.pdf. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[8] Tennessee Valley Authority. Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI): Hampton Station 500-kV Substation (Montgomery County, Tennessee). October 9, 2025. https://tva-azr-eastus-cdn-ep-tvawcm-prd.azureedge.net/cdn-tvawcma/docs/default-source/environment/environmental-stewardship/nepa-environmental-reviews/finding-of-no-significant-impact_hampton-station-500-kv-substation-10-9-2025.pdf. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[9] Tennessee Valley Authority. “TVA Requests Proposals for Battery Storage at Kingston Energy Complex.” PR Newswire, March 7, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tva-requests-proposals-for-battery-storage-at-kingston-energy-complex-302395874.html. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[10] Kairos Power. “Google, Kairos Power, TVA Collaborate to Meet America’s Growing Energy Needs.” August 18, 2025. https://kairospower.com/external_updates/google-kairos-power-tva-collaborate-to-meet-americas-growing-energy-needs/. Accessed January 8, 2026.

[11] Daniel Dassow. “TVA considering separate electric rate for power-hungry data centers.” Knoxville News Sentinel, February 20, 2025. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/environment/2025/02/20/tva-considering-separate-electric-rate-for-power-hungry-data-centers/79099631007/. Accessed January 8, 2026.