Control Center Designed To Withstand Natural Disasters, Cyberattacks Nears Completion in Tennessee
According to Andy Peters at CoStar News, "The Tennessee Valley Authority is wrapping up construction on a $300 million power plant control center designed to withstand tornadoes, earthquakes and cyberattacks in a sparsely populated rural area of eastern Tennessee.
The TVA, a federal agency that serves about 10 million customers in the Southeast, is building the operations center to replace a decades-old control center in downtown Chattanooga. The new facility is heavily secured, with its location purposely chosen because of its distance from population centers.
The TVA facility is likely to serve as a model for the next wave of data centers that require the most sophisticated security protocols, architects and construction managers working on the project said during a recent guided tour. Commercial real estate developers and investors are racing to construct new data centers to meet soaring demand, according to the CBRE Global Data Center Trends 2024 report issued in June. But data center developers also must bulk up physical and digital security defenses for the properties.
“This is literally the brains of the TVA system,” Aaron Melda, TVA's senior vice president of transmission and power supply, said during an Aug. 9 tour. “So, that’s 16,000 miles of transmission lines, 500 substations and hundreds of power plants.”
The TVA control center is located on a 166-acre site at 490 Highway 58 in Georgetown, Tennessee, about 30 miles northeast of Chattanooga. TVA’s current control center is in the agency’s office complex in downtown Chattanooga, which it plans to vacate and possibly demolish. TVA wanted to move the control center out of an urban area because of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks.
Building construction is set to be substantially completed later this year, but the facility won’t be operational until fall 2026 as TVA conducts testing.
The centerpiece of the new facility is a central room where personnel will use digital connections and large video monitors to track all nuclear, coal, natural gas, hydropower and renewable energy production plants in TVA’s seven-state territory.
The command center is designed to provide greater levels of detail on the system’s performance and on local environmental conditions that TVA said will allow for more efficient operations and quicker response times when problems arise. About 200 employees will be assigned to the facility.
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“We will be able to predict weather better,” Melda said during the tour. “You’ll have better capacity to predict consumer behavior and demand. And we’ll have greater operational capacity to dispatch the diverse fleet that we have.”
The two-story concrete structure is designed to withstand F5-class tornadoes, earthquakes that register up to six on the Richter scale and a “direct ballistic attack,” Melda said. An electric substation is located next to the building to provide a backup power supply.
“The technology that’s going in here, we will be able to predict all sorts of natural disasters before they occur,” Melda said.
For the Record
Robert E. Lamb Inc. is providing architectural, construction management and engineering services for the project. TVA is serving as general contractor."
The Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) $300 million control center could have significant implications for property taxes, particularly in the surrounding areas of Georgetown, Tennessee near Chattanooga. Here's a breakdown of potential effects:
Increased Property Values: The construction of such a high-security, state-of-the-art facility could spur growth in the area. Major infrastructure projects tend to increase demand for nearby real estate, both for residential and commercial properties. With a large federal facility, local amenities may grow, which in turn raises property values and, subsequently, property taxes.
Economic Boost: The facility will bring jobs, both during its construction phase and once operational. About 200 employees are expected to work there, and with additional security and maintenance positions likely needed, this influx of workers could increase the local population and stimulate the local economy. Increases in local businesses and residential housing developments could lead to higher tax revenues.
Potential for Tax Incentives: While the TVA is a federal agency and exempt from paying property taxes, local governments may implement tax incentives to encourage complementary development around the site. This could include businesses like restaurants, housing, and services to support the new workforce. However, if the demand outpaces the local government's capacity to manage growth (infrastructure, schools, etc.), property taxes might rise to fund these expansions.
Mitigation of Population Density Concerns: The TVA purposely chose a sparsely populated rural area to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks and to distance the center from urban vulnerabilities. As a result, the site’s remoteness might limit large-scale population growth, tempering the rise of property taxes in the immediate area. However, nearby regions could still experience an increase in property demand as workers settle within commuting distance.
In conclusion, while the immediate effects of the TVA facility on property taxes are likely moderate due to its rural location, the surrounding regions may see gradual increases in property values and taxes as a result of economic growth and rising real estate demand.