Obama wants to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

He's really progressive guys, his hands are just tied by the big bad GOP!

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I'm not sure how I feel about privatizing the TVA. 

It's a very complicated issue.  I certainly don't think the Federal government should be in effect guaranteeing the bonds of an energy utility for only one area of the country.  That's not fair.  I also wonder whether the TVA model is keeping electricity rates too low and failing to invest in capital improvements. 

What exactly is so great about the current setup of the TVA?

Because private ownership of utilities is fundamentally immoral.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I'm not going to go the Snowstalker/TNF route, but the TVA has been remarkably effective, and privatization of public utilities tends to go badly. What on earth is Obama thinking?

I think if you read the actual budget document, it makes more sense.

Why should New York taxpayers subsidize Tennessee electricity consumers?  Tennessee taxpayers don't subsidize New York electricity consumers.  That's fundamentally unfair.  But, the Obama plan says we should explore just transferring the TVA from federal to state/local control.  That might be the best solution.  

That's a legitimate point, and the solution to that is for the TVA to become a national power monopoly instead of a regional one.