President Trump is again proposing to sell part of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation's biggest government utility.

In the White House budget plan unveiled this week, the Office of Management and Budget again recommended the federal government sell the transmission assets of TVA to help pay down the federal debt, reports Chattanooga Times Free Press.

TVA President Jeff Lyash said the proposal threatens to undermine TVA's integrated approach to managing the Tennessee River and power generation in its seven-state region.

The plan to sell TVA's transmission assets was first made in 2013 by President Barak Obama but was quickly rejected by the Congress.

TVA was established in 1933 by Former President Franklin Roosevelt as part of his New Deal to help aid the impoverished southern Appalachian region when investor-owned electric utilities at the time failed to serve most of the Tennessee Valley.

TVA helped harness the power of the Tennessee River for power and flood control and electrify the region with the aid of federal taxpayer support through the first half century of its life. But since the 1980s, TVA no longer receives direct taxpayer support to fund its operations.

As a federal agency, TVA's bonds and other borrowings still enjoy the implied backing of the U.S. government, according to bond rating agencies, and TVA's debts are still included in the overall federal deficit.

Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press