At least one area utility welcomes legislation proposed by Kentucky's senators to clamp down on the Tennessee Valley Authority's power-selling policies.

Local electric utilities buy their power from TVA, a government corporation that wholesales electricity to about 8.7 million customers. Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. and the Glasgow Electric Plant Board have all considered leaving TVA for other, cheaper power suppliers in the past few years - but BGMU opted to stick with TVA, citing reliability as a major reason; Warren RECC and Glasgow EPB decided to leave, but later rescinded their notices and remained with TVA.

Bill Ray, Glasgow EPB superintendent, said he agrees with the proposal from Sens. Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell to make TVA provide access to its transmission lines at more “reasonable” rates.

Glasgow's 7,000 customers may not want to reconsider the decision to stick with TVA at this point, but it would be a good option to have for the future, Ray said.

Other local utilities had less reaction, at least thus far.

“Warren RECC does not have a position and does not have a comment on this matter,” said Gary Dillard, vice president of Member and Affiliated Services for Warren RECC, which has about 58,000 customers.

Miles McDaniel, manager of Business Development & Marketing, for BGMU and its 25,000 electric customers, said this morning that he had not yet seen the proposed legislation.

For Glasgow, deciding whether to stick with TVA, the “number one” factor was whether TVA would allow power from other suppliers to flow across its lines for a reasonable fee, Ray said.

“That they steadfastly refused to do,” he said.

The Republican senators' bill would let the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission review TVA's transmission line contracts, as the commission does with private utilities.

“All Kentuckians deserve to choose where they buy their power,” Bunning said in a press release. “This bill will not only give residents that choice, but it will also create a more competitive environment among Kentucky distributors and allow our businesses and residential consumers to keep more money in their pockets.”

The bill also asks the federal General Accounting Office to study privatizing TVA and analyze the utility's debt level.

“Currently, Kentuckians are being held captive by TVA and are being forced to pay higher rates than those who receive power from other distributors. This is unacceptable, and needs to be changed,” McConnell said in the joint press release with Bunning. “The bill we introduced today will allow Kentuckians to have greater access to more affordable electricity. It's time to hold TVA accountable.”

McConnell and Bunning have filed similar legislation in the past, but it hasn't gotten through, Ray said.

“We're certainly behind their efforts,” he said.

TVA was created by the federal government in 1933 to generate power in rural areas, mostly through hydroelectric plants, though it now operates a variety of other generating plants. It was required to become self-supporting in 1959.