Simon Mahan: TVA should add more wind power to its energy mix

Simon Mahan: TVA should add more wind power to its energy mix

We need new sources of clean energy to shift to a more sustainable future and keep electric rates low.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has a vision to be one of the nation's leading providers of reliable, low-cost, clean energy by 2020. In order to realize this vision, TVA has been a leader in procuring wind power to meet its energy demands because wind energy is a low-cost option for its customers. TVA should further commit to its vision of a cleaner energy future by giving wind power a more prominent role in its Integrated Resource Plan for the next 20 years.

Over the past decade, TVA has become a pioneer in acquiring wind power from states like Illinois, Iowa and Kansas. The 1,515 megawatts of wind power TVA purchases is enough to power roughly 440,000 homes annually. In recognition of its efforts to protect ratepayers with low-cost wind power, TVA won the American Wind Energy Association's Utility of the Year award in 2012.

TVA's ability to offer clean electricity at low costs has been a major driver of economic development in the Tennessee Valley. The manufacturing, logistics and technology industries — including companies like FedEx and Mitsubishi — are demanding a lower-cost, cleaner energy mix to power their growth. Wind power can provide stable and predictable energy costs for businesses because there are no associated variable fuel costs. As businesses make site and expansion plans, wind power can play a significant role in providing predictably low-cost clean energy.

Many states are incorporating significant quantities of wind power. For example, wind power produced one-fourth of Iowa's electricity in 2013. A recent U.S. Department of Energy analysis showed the entire country could produce 20 percent of its electricity from wind power by the year 2030. Several of TVA's local power distributors have also supported

wind power by the year 2030. Several of TVA's local power distributors have also supported increasing the amount of renewable energy in TVA's portfolio. Cities throughout Tennessee, including Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga, have supported renewable energy purchases. These cities recognize the numerous economic, environmental and quality-of-life benefits of renewable energy.

A recent analysis by Lazard Associates, the world's leading independent financial advisory and asset management firm, found that wind energy is 58 percent cheaper than it was just five years ago because of technological improvements. Prices continue to decline. Wholesale electric power has become less expensive in areas of the country where wind power was added to the system. Because wind energy has no fuel costs, it protects consumers from volatility in the price of fossil fuels and enhances America's energy security and independence.

Besides saving consumers money on their power bills, wind energy creates local jobs and new revenue for local governments. More than 70 percent of the components that go into a wind turbine are manufactured in the United States. Tennessee manufacturing and operations companies that aid in the wind turbine and transmission supply chain are directly and positively impacted. These companies include Signal Energy, Barnhart Crane and O'Neal Steel, among others.

It is clear that more low-cost wind power benefits the Tennessee Valley: it's affordable, creates jobs, reduces air pollution and conserves water. TVA should take advantage of the opportunity provided through its Integrated Resource Plan to make a historic commitment by adding more low-cost wind power to the region's electric power mix, benefiting its customers for years to come.

Simon Mahan is director of the Southern Wind Energy Association in Knoxville. He may be reached at 337-303-3723 or simon@cleanenergy.org.