(This story was originally published by The Institute for Public Service Reporting – Memphis.)
Memphis Light Gas and Water is taking some baby steps this year to create its own solar power system, but a major hurdle stands in the way: an antiquated contract with its power supplier.
MLGW’s exclusive power contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority forbids the city-owned utility from getting electricity from anyone but TVA.
Among 153 local power companies served by TVA, 148 have signed 20-year, long-term agreements with TVA that allow them to generate up to 5 percent of their electricity on their own. Memphis is one of the five without the long-term contract, preventing the utility from generating its own electricity.
“The community needs more energy. The demand is going up. Where are we going to get it? We do not want to burn more fossil fields, so solar is where it can come from,” said Dennis Lynch, Midtown Memphis resident and member of the MLGW citizens advisory committee.
“I could imagine many empty blocks in Memphis covered with solar panels and then people signing up to be members and getting reduced rates for electricity, but even that is not allowed in the current TVA contract.”
MLGW operates under a rolling five-year contract with TVA that dates to December 1984. That contract in Section 2B states, “TVA shall be entitled to serve directly any consumer to whom said resale rate schedules are not applicable.” The contract also states TVA retains the right to provide power to other types of customers such as the federal government and any large user of electricity. The 1984 language prevents MLGW from getting power anywhere other than TVA.
Status of a long term agreement
In 2022, MLGW discussed a 20-year long-term agreement with TVA to provide electricity to Memphis, which would have allowed the creation of its own solar power system. But that long-term agreement was never signed, so the terms of the 1984 agreement remain in place. In May 2023, MLGW CEO Doug McGowen announced that the utility would stick with TVA as its power supplier under the terms of the old contract for now.
Was that a mistake?
Not so, said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. That is because committing long-term to TVA means Memphis would likely never be able to get out from under TVA due to the onerous exit clauses in such a contract.
Under the terms of the current contract, MLGW must give TVA a five-year notice if it wants to leave. The long-term contract would have required a 20-year notice, which means it would be decades before Memphis could get out from under TVA.
“MLGW is losing out on clean energy, particularly, solar due to the fact that they are not independent from TVA,” Smith said. “But I do not think that signing a long-term contract would be worth it. Memphis would lose out by agreeing to stay with TVA for so long.”
One reason is that the 5 percent limit TVA places on its long-term customers is miniscule compared to the potential for solar power in West Tennessee, Smith said.
“MLGW did absolutely the right thing by not signing that long-term contract. Instead, we would like MLGW to start re-negotiating that agreement again and start using the leverage it has to encourage the use of renewable energy,” Smith said.
Baby steps to solar power
At the Oct. 2 MLGW board meeting CEO Doug McGowen outlined the capital improvement projects for 2025. He said the utility is doing what it can to move toward solar power by installing the first-ever battery storage system.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen (Photo: The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis)
McGowen has acknowledged MLGW is prevented from creating its own solar power because of the current TVA-MLGW contract.
“We are still committed to that. I want to get the battery storage rolling first,” McGowen said at the Oct. 2 meeting. “We have some architecture and engineering money allocated for solar. We are working with our partners at TVA to determine how to do that in the constraints of our current contract. That remains a priority for us.”
Solar power would be part of what McGowen called “an aggressive expansion of capacity” to provide electricity for Memphis. At the most recent MLGW board meeting on Feb. 5, McGowen noted that the request for proposals for the battery storage would be out soon. But he offered no exact timetable. McGowen has said Memphis needs to expand the ability to provide electricity for economic growth
The best example is the establishment of the xAI facility in south Memphis, which has huge power demands. Bloomberg News reported that new artificial intelligence data centers can be drivers of economic growth for communities, but they have huge power demands. Communities that are prepared to provide increasing amounts of electricity will be the beneficiaries. And part of providing increasing amounts of electricity is that local communities need to be generating their own power instead of just buying it from someone else.
Battery storage is pivotal to plans for solar power because the sun does not shine at night, so the electricity must be generated during the day and then stored for use at other times. But a battery storage system is only the first step toward using the sun to generate electricity.
Memphis falling behind
Scott Brooks, senior relations specialist for TVA, confirmed via email that Memphis is way in the minority when it comes to developing its own power generation, writing, “Many of our partners are doing solar and community solar.”
Other TVA communities that are generating their own solar power are the Knoxville Utilities Board, BrightRidge (which serves the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee) and the Nashville Electric Service.
A 2023 study done by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy titled “Solar in the Southeast” confirmed that Memphis was far behind Knoxville and on par with Nashville when it came to using electricity generated by the sun.
The same study showed that Memphis will be even further behind Knoxville by 2027 if things stay the same with the TVA contract. And Tennessee, which is entirely served by TVA, is miles behind the average utility in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The goal of creating Memphis’s own solar power system is not new. It was part of the Memphis Area’s Climate Action plan written in 2020. That 222-page plan said: “Transforming our energy supply over the next 30 years will need to take an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach, with actions ranging from partnering with TVA to increase renewables in their portfolio, to encouraging and constructing local sources of renewable generation (particularly solar).”
The plan said the city of Memphis and Shelby County would work with TVA to explore changes to the MLGW contract. The report mentions solar power 35 times as a key goal for the community.
Yet more than five years since that report, no progress has been made toward establishing a local solar power system in Memphis.
Solar panels at Agricenter International. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)
Some solar power exists
Despite the restriction, solar power is not absent in Memphis. The TVA contract does not prevent companies, individuals or even government entities from putting up solar panels and generating power. The biggest solar project in Shelby County is happening at the Agricenter where thousands of vehicles whiz by five acres of solar panels on Walnut Grove Road.
That project launched in 2012 is generating enough electricity to power 110 homes per year. And it is connected with TVA’s system, showing the potential for solar power in Memphis. Shelby county government also generates electricity with the establishment of its modest collection of solar panels off of Farm Road behind the county code enforcement office.
How can Memphis start maximizing the benefits of solar power?
Citizen action is what is needed to change the situation, said Lynch, a frequent public speaker at MLGW board meetings and member of the West Tennessee Sierra Club.
“Citizens need to better understand what is the story,” Lynch said. “They need to knock on the doors of MLGW and ask what MLGW: What are you doing to allow TVA to allow us to install solar?
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
SUMMARY: The University of Tennessee’s basketball season ended in the Elite 8 for the second consecutive year, losing to the University of Houston 69-50. A poor first half saw the Vols fall behind by over 20 points, and despite a strong start to the second half, they couldn’t overcome Houston’s efficient three-point shooting. Tennessee shot just 29% from the field, with standout performances from Jordan Gainey and Chaz Lanier scoring 17 points each, while Zakai Zeigler was limited to five. Houston’s strong rebounding and point production in the paint secured their victory and a spot in the Final Four.
SUMMARY: Tennessee is facing a severe shortage of school counselors, with the average counselor handling 429 students, nearly double the recommended ratio. This overload hinders counselors’ ability to provide personalized support, leading to negative outcomes like lower graduation rates and increased mental health issues. Factors contributing to the shortage include unclear career pathways, role confusion, and low pay. Efforts to address this, such as the “Map My Pathway” project, aim to better inform students about the counseling profession. Counselors play a vital role in advising students on academic and financial decisions, but current workloads make it difficult to support students effectively.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-28 12:00:00
(The Center Square) – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said there are a lot of unknowns concerning a bill that would allow school districts to ban students who are illegally in the country.
Protestors have gathered outside the state capitol and packed committee rooms during debates of the bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and in the House by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland.
“To the specifics of the legislation before the General Assembly right now, it’s not finalized,” Lee said during a visit to Chattanooga this week. “They’re different versions of the bill, there are different amendments, there’s a lot unknown yet about where this is going to land. Until I know more about that, I can’t speak to the particulars of it.”
Lee said the Biden administration created a problem with illegal immigration.
“It leaves lawmakers with the challenges of addressing the mess that was created by that, including issues with overburdened school systems,” Lee said. “I think that is part of what you are seeing there.”
The 1982 Plyer vs. Doe ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court said U.S. public schools must allow children illegally in the country to attend unless “a substantial state interest is involved.”
William Mendoza of Knoxville said during a subcommittee meeting of the House Education Committee that he believes lawmakers are hoping to set a national precedent.
“I think we are wasting taxpayers money,” Mendoza said. “We have seen how this bill that is trying to be passed is just a game because they just want to bring it up all the way to the Supreme Court to be able to challenge it.”
The bill is on Tuesday’s calendar for the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee. It is assigned to the Government Operations Committee in the House.
Both chambers could vote next week on another piece of legislation addressing illegal immigration.
Sen. Majority Leader Jack Johnson and Rep. Lee Reeves, R-Franklin, are sponsoring a bill that negates out-of-state driver’s licenses for people illegally in the country. Those caught could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor.
“The majority of states that issue licenses to illegal immigrants issue a distinctive license,” Johnson said. “The bill requires the Department of Safety to go through and create a list of these licenses. Those licenses will not be valid licenses here in the state of Tennessee.”
The bills have passed House and Senate committees.
Lawmakers agreed to a bill in a January special session that creates a Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division to act as a liaison with the Trump administration on immigration. The legislation also establishes a grant program for law enforcement agencies that participate in a federal immigration program that allows them to perform some immigration duties.
Local officials that support sanctuary cities could be charged with a Class E felony under a separate piece of legislation passed during the special session.
