A fossil fuel may be rebranded ‘renewable energy’ under proposed Tennessee law

Tennessee may become the first state to legally define gas as “renewable energy.” 

State law currently defines natural gas, a fossil fuel composed mostly of methane, as “clean energy.” But a proposed state bill would expand the definition. 

Gas is neither clean or renewable — by any standard definition. Gas accounts for nearly 40% of total planet-warming emissions from fuel burning in the U.S. That is roughly double the climate pollution caused by coal, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest data.

Caroline Eggers WPLN News

Gas represented nearly 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions from fuel burning in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency.

Gas use involves drilling, transportation along pipelines and burning at power plants, compressor stations, industrial facilities and homes and other buildings. Communities near fracking have documented high risks of childhood cancer and premature death, earthquakes and damaged ecosystems. 

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the utility that provides nearly all electricity in Tennessee, has been undergoing one of the largest gas expansions of any utility in the nation. Since 2020, TVA has proposed nine gas plants, equivalent to a 60% increase in its gas capacity, and three new pipelines. The buildout has been widely criticized for its cost, pollution and associated “lack of transparency.”

Tennessee passed a law to define gas as “clean energy” in 2023, shortly after Ohio passed a law to define the fossil fuel as “green energy.” Two dark money groups with ties to the gas industry, including the American Legislative Exchange Council, helped craft that legislation, according to documents obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute. Indiana and Mississippi have introduced similar bills this year.

Tennessee’s new bill would cover all the bases, defining gas as “clean,” “green” and “renewable.” The expanded definition will also include the following energy sources: nuclear, hydrogen fuel, fuel cells, waste-to-energy facilities, crops grown for energy production, industrial byproduct technologies, waste heat, compressed air energy storage, biomass and renewable natural gas. 

“A few years ago in Tennessee, we created a list of clean energies and a list of renewable energies, and a lot of folks thought that that just needed to be combined into one list,” Rep. Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon, the sponsor of the bill, said during a hearing last week. 

MORE: TVA 2020 v. 2030: Why the nation’s largest public utility is not getting cleaner | WPLN News

The bill’s language indicates that its intent is to preemptively block local governments from enacting policies that would require certain amounts of energy from clean or renewable sources.

Across the nation, about 30 states require a portion of their electricity to come from renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal. Colorado plus 15 states with renewable standards also have policies requiring 100% clean electricity, meaning power from renewable or nuclear sources. Tennessee has neither policy, but some cities, like Nashville and Chattanooga, have specific climate goals. 

Courtesy Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Twenty-nine states have renewable portfolio standard policies, which require a certain percentage of electricity to come from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal.

Tennessee has passed multiple laws in recent years that support the fossil fuel industry, which causes the vast majority of pollution fueling climate change. 

The bill will be heard in the Tennessee Senate’s Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources committee next week.