TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 7, 2025

After firing one Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board member last month, the Trump administration now has fired board chair Joe Ritch, a Huntsville, Alabama, lawyer and community leader. The move leaves the governing body of the nation's largest public power provider with four members, which does not constitute a quorum, Knox News reports. The board voted at its February meeting to make Bill Renick of Mississippi its next chair, effective in May or earlier if Ritch was unable to fulfill his duties. Ritch, nominated for a second term by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2022, was set to serve until May 18. The federally owned and self-funded utility was created by Congress during the Great Depression. It produces electricity for 10 million people across seven Southeast states and provides economic development and environmental stewardship to the Tennessee Valley.