Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) On Track to have Worst Solar Year Since 2011
A recording of the press conference noted below can be listened to here.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) On Track to have Worst Solar Year Since 2011
Solar Choice Advocates Concerned Over Lack of Progress and Deliberate Slow Downs
Contact: Alissa Schafer, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, 865-235-1448
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Knoxville, Tenn. -On what is usually a celebration of sunshine on the longest day of the year, this Summer Solstice the Tennesseans for Solar Choice coalition is shining a light on TVA’s dismal rate of solar installations. Solar advocates, small businesses, and other Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) consumers, joined with Tennesseans for Solar Choice in protest of what appears to be deliberate mismanagement and slowing of TVA’s own solar programs. TVA has three programs for solar: Green Power Providers (GPP) for residential and small businesses, Distributed Solar Solutions (DSS) for larger community scale solar in partnership with Local Power Companies, and large scale solar through a Request For Proposals (RFP) process. While other utilities in the Southeast continue to dramatically scale their solar portfolios, TVA is on track to deploy less solar than they have since 2011, making it clear that all three of TVA’s solar programs are delayed, mismanaged, or completely broken.
The Tennesseans for Solar Choice coalition is questioning TVA’s commitment to their own programs. Despite being halfway through the year, recent data from GTM Research show less than 2 megawatts (MW) of solar were installed in the first quarter, and year-to-date applications for residential and small business solar are down 73 percent from where they were a year ago. RFP contracts were expected to be awarded in the first quarter 2018, but this has not yet happened. Despite some hopeful hints at progress, such as the recent announcement that TVA is working with Facebook in Huntsville, AL, it appears that TVA has been using their monopoly power to choke off the pipeline for future solar projects, with one of the most dramatic examples being that, halfway through the year, the Distributed Solar Solutions program for 2018 has yet to be announced.
Tennesseans for Solar Choice shared frustrations over the current, lagging status of solar throughout TVA’s territory, emphasizing that it is time for other solar options. As TVA continues to reduce the rate they pay for self-generation, going below the amount that customers pay on their electric bill for the first time since TVA started their solar program in 2003, opportunities exist for residents and businesses to design their solar generation “behind the meter” to ensure they capture the full retail value, but new fees and in-cohesive policies are slowing down this process as well. Moreover, the coalition called for TVA to provide “contract flexibility” allowing Local Power Companies to offer solar programs that align with their customers’ preferences.
While hesitant to share publicly out of fear of retaliation from TVA, many solar contractors throughout the region have experienced the frustrations of their customers who want to go solar but are confronted with red-tape, inconsistent policies and fees, and incredible delays in application approval. Some customers have even been contacted by TVA employees directly, who worked to dissuade them from going solar. As TVA continues to actively discourage people from going solar, local solar companies are forced into uncertainty as their business models based on TVA’s own solar programs fall short.
Gil Hough, Executive Director of TenneSEIA which represents the solar industry in the state of Tennessee, stated: “This has been a very hard year for many small business in the Tennessee Valley due to recent changes by TVA, these programs are broken, and getting worse instead of better. Customers need transparent, cohesive, well-designed programs, and TVA’s Local Power Companies need contract flexibility. A bad solar program means that more and more customers are installing “behind the meter” and not working with their utility as a direct result of frustration over TVA’s actions. Customers are looking elsewhere for their clean energy, creating a huge missed opportunity for TVA and local power companies”
The Tennessee Small Business Alliance, a group focused on elevating the voices of small businesses as the employers of over 1.1 million throughout Tennessee also spoke out against TVA’s poor solar performance. “As a small business owner, going solar is a business decision for me, in addition to its environmental and local economic benefits. TVA has consistently been moving in the wrong direction on their solar programs, adding more fees, and lowering the credit I can receive for the power I generate and send back to their grid,” said Chris Calhoun, owner of The Tap House and The Brew Market in Chattanooga. “It is clear to me that if I want to go solar, going behind the meter may well be the only option that makes financial sense for me, but TVA is even making that less attractive by adding mandatory fees that have nothing to do with our energy usage. This type of rate and program design is incredibly regressive and does not provide a welcoming environment for innovative small businesses throughout the Valley.”
The Tennesseans for Solar Choice coalition also included the Tennessee State Conference NAACP, expressing frustration over the lack of positive solar progress. “Solar choice is about taking the power back from monopolies who make decisions behind closed doors and returning that power to the people,” said Elder Jimmie Garland, Vice President Middle TN for the TN State Conference NAACP. “It is crucial that we support fair access to clean, affordable, healthy solar energy, and that we oppose discriminatory fixed charges that hurt people across the Valley.”
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy “We are disappointed by TVA’s dysfunctional solar programs that result in missed opportunities for the regional economy, job growth and environment. Neighboring states are becoming national leaders in solar development and reaping these benefits while Tennessee is falling behind. TVA’s failure to embrace technology innovation and what customers clearly want more of threatens to undermine its future in the 21st century.”
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Tennesseans for Solar Choice is a diverse and multi-partisan coalition, working to remove the market barriers and enable the fair expansion of solar power to benefit all Tennesseans. Learn more and get involved at www.tnsolarchoice.org.