AI Boom Forces Tennessee to Plan Massive Natural Gas Expansion

The Tennessee Valley Authority released its preliminary 2026 integrated resource plan on Monday, saying load growth in its footprint is already outpacing the reference case forecast in its draft IRP, and that it has incremental capacity needs for between 7 GW and 26 GW of natural gas between now and 2040.

“TVA’s actual and forecasted electricity demand has increased relative to the draft IRP’s Reference scenario and is approaching the Higher Growth Economy scenario primarily due to data center growth (e.g., artificial intelligence,…