Memphis residents are being asked to reduce their use of electricity today as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has activated its Emergency Load Curtailment Program.
Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) has asked customers to voluntarily limit electrical use due to “high demand across the region.” Officials said TVA’s service area has been severely impacted by high temperatures, putting more pressure on the eclectic grid.
TVA’s program seeks to stabilize the agency’s generation and transmission during peak periods.
“This situation is not unique to Memphis – local power companies throughout the TVA region are responding to the same challenges,” MLGW said. “Our shared goal is to help lighten the load on the system so that power disruptions can be avoided.”
The utility service is asking customers to turn off unnecessary lights and electronics, raise thermostats if possible, delay usage of large appliances such as washing machines and dryers until night time, and to charge electric vehicles during “off-peak hours.”
MLGW said these changes can help stabilize the grid.
Today marks the second day this week MLGW has made this request on behalf of TVA, saying that these efforts can have “significant impact.” These precautionary measures can help prevent outages, officials said.
Environmental justice advocates are demanding xAI officials be held accountable for the operation of gas turbines at the Memphis data center.
Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) sent a letter to xAI notifying the company of their intent to sue over the data center’s permitless gas turbines. The letter was sent on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Both organizations have been vocal about their concern for the facility, as well as the harm it poses to the community — specifically those in South Memphis.
The NAACP sent a letter to the Shelby County Health Department and Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) requesting they cease operations on the facility.
SELC has long monitored the project, sending a letter in April to Dr. Michelle Taylor, director and health officer for the Shelby County Health Department. The organization said they obtained aerial images in March that showed that xAI has 35 gas turbines.
“xAI’s decision to install and operate dozens of polluting gas turbines without any permits or public oversight is a clear violation of the Clean Air Act,” SELC senior attorney Patrick Anderson said. “Over the last year, these turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens the health of Memphis families. This notice paves the way for a lawsuit that can hold xAI accountable for its unlawful refusal to get permits for its gas turbines.”
Officials sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue to xAI saying the gas turbines violate federal guidelines, stating the project is required to “obtain appropriate air permits before operating its polluting gas turbines.”
They say the company also hasn’t confirmed if they would be installing more turbines to power the facility. The letter noted the environmental impact, saying the turbines emit formaldehyde and other chemicals linked to respiratory diseases.
“xAI’s South Memphis data center is located near predominantly Black communities that are already overburdened with industrial pollution from dozens of industrial facilities, including an oil refinery, a steel mill, and a TVA gas plant,” the SELC said.
NAACP president Derrick Johnson said xAI is taking advantage of communities and families in order to advance its corporate interests.
“We cannot afford to normalize this kind of environmental injustice — where billion-dollar companies set up polluting operations in Black neighborhoods without any permits and think they’ll get away with it because the people don’t have the power to fight back,” Johnson said.
Other local leaders have promised to push back against xAI by activating people power.
On Monday, Representative Justin J. Pearson and Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP) hosted an environmental justice “dinner and learn” at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church. Organizers said this event was to keep the public updated on xAI’s while also empowering people to get involved in the environmental justice movement.
“Facts matter and it’s time for the fictions of elected leaders and the chamber to be made clear so we can coordinate our fight even better,” Pearson said prior to the event.
On his social media platforms, the representative recently called out the Greater Memphis Chamber for sending out “misinformation and disinformation” about xAI. He referenced informational sheets from the Chamber, along with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW); and more.
“We feel that it is important to share with you that xAI — and the supercomputer launched in Memphis in the spring of 2024 — has operated in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and oversight,” a screenshot of the sheet read.
Pearson called this “propaganda,” said the project had not followed federal regulations, and referenced violations of the Clean Air Act.
“We have a responsibility as elected officials — as people — to tell the truth,” Pearson said. “We have to have a baseline of information by which we can be activated and advocates.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is refuting Memphis Light, Gas and Water’s (MLGW) claims, renouncing responsibility for the xAI project.
“Regardless of the MLGW administration’s claims, MLGW’s own charter and policy manual appear to give the MLGW board a role in deciding the terms on which the utility will add or improve infrastructure,” the NAACP said in a statement.
MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen sent a letter on June 2nd in response to one sent by the NAACP asking the utility service provider and the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) to stop xAI operations.
McGowen acknowledged the group’s concern, yet called their claims “baseless and inflammatory,” saying they were “unnecessary and frankly beneath [the] organization.”
“The baseless claims against MLGW in your letter reflect a complete lack of understanding of MLGW processes and the laws implicated,” McGowen said in the letter. “Although you are writing us from Baltimore, Maryland, there has been such substantial reporting on this issue that even a modicum of due diligence would reflect that MLGW has been extremely communicative in sharing information with the public about its role, our processes, and the status of the provision of utilities for xAI.”
McGowen said they have no role in monitoring or regulating xAI’s gas turbines and refuted the NAACP’s claims that they “allow customers to operate without constraints or with a lackadaisical approach.”
“MLGW does not control the use of natural gas turbines,” McGowen said. “That responsibility lies with other agencies such as the Shelby County Health Department, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.”
The NAACP cited MLGW’s charter and policy manual which they said gives the board the authority in deciding how MLGW “will add or improve infrastructure.” Section 683 allows commissioners to govern the distribution of the utilities “as they deem proper in the operation of said light, gas, and water division.”
MLGW’s Service Policy 1.6 also states that the board has the right to “refuse to make or to postpone making any extensions, additions, or improvements to the electric, gas, or water system.” It also said that the board of commissioners make the final decision in these cases.
McGowen’s letter said the company has been transparent about their role in xAI’s operations and they’ve made “great efforts to educate the public.” They referenced a public conversation they co-facilitated with the Memphis City Council in August 2024 and a webpage that defines their role with xAI.
Despite this, the NAACP still criticized MLGW’s role in providing public updates.
“We’re not aware of the board deliberating publicly to make this important decision to add or improve infrastructure,” the NAACP said in a statement.
An aerial view of xAI's South Memphis Colossus shows gas turbines running to power the facility. (Photo: Southern Environmental Law Center)
The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is calling on the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) and Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW) to stop xAI’s operations on behalf of the citizens of Memphis.
In a letter to former SCHD director and health officer, Michelle Taylor, and the MLGW board of commissioners, the advocacy organization criticized both agencies for allowing the data center to operate, while also leaving community members out of important conversations.
Kermit Moore, president of the Memphis Branch of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee State Conference, and Abre’ Conner, director of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, signed the letter.
The NAACP is asking the agencies to dive deeper into xAI’s impact on public health, fully track the emissions of the site and its air turbines, and issue an emergency order for xAI to “stop operations completely.”
“Members of the community have been left in the dark at all phases of this process, and the public agencies, appointed and elected officials, and companies who they appealed to for help have responded with no sense of urgency to address their concerns,” the letter said. “We are urging you again to ensure that xAI stops operating its unpermitted turbines in violation of clean air and open meeting act laws and to order xAI to pay penalties for operating in violation of the law.”
xAI’s location in Southwest Memphis has been lambasted by community members and elected officials due to its disproportionate effect on a marginalized neighborhood. The NAACP said the project continues the trend of environmental racism in a historically Black community, and emphasized how the health department should be protecting these individuals.
“SCDH making South Memphis a larger sacrifice zone is counter to its mission,” the letter added.
NAACP officials noted that while data centers are popping up all over the country, they still pose a threat to the environment due to their use of energy and water. They cited these as contributors to air pollution and the climate crisis. Elon Musk’ s promise that the facility would be “the world’s largest and most powerful supercomputer,” was also cited as a threat by the organization.
The organization held both the SCHD and MLGW responsible for allowing xAI to operate 35 gas turbines without air permits, which has been a point of controversy for months.
“Our analysis shows these turbines together have a power generating capacity of 421 megawatts — comparable to an entire TVA power plant — all constructed and operating unlawfully without any air permit in Southwest Memphis, a community that is profoundly overburdened with industrial pollution,” the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) said in a statement.
While the Greater Memphis Chamber announced that the temporary gas turbines would be removed in the coming months as the project enters Phase II, the NAACP criticized SCHD and MLGW for allowing xAI to “sidestep the law and clean air standards.”
“SCDH and MLGW should also carefully consider the message it sends when it allows xAI to evade rules meant to protect the community,” the letter said. “Indeed, 35 gas turbines can emit between 1,200 and 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year.”
The letter, dated May 29, was sent a day before it was announced that Taylor would be leaving the health department on August 1 to serve as the Commissioner of Health for the Baltimore City Health Department. This announcement has left many wondering what the future of the xAI will be, as the department is still reviewing the company’s air turbine permit application.
Representative Justin J. Pearson noted that this is a “critical time for public health in Shelby County,” and urged Taylor to deny the xAI permit.
“Dr. Taylor and the health department still have the chance to do what’s right – to leave a legacy rooted in science, ethics, and community: deny xAI’s gas turbine permit,” Pearson said in a statement. “ Doing so would send a clear message that Shelby County is not a dumping ground for hazardous gases, and that here, we protect people over profit.”
As the xAI project prepares to enter its second phase, some of the temporary gas turbines will be removed over the next two months.
An announcement from the Greater Memphis Chamber said the project reached “full operational capacity” on Thursday, May 1st, as it is now receiving 150 megawatts of grid power from Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
The chamber said an additional 150 megawatts of Megapack Batteries have been added and will be used in case of an outage or “peak grid demand.”
Prior to connecting to the grid, the company used natural gas turbines as a source of power, which the chamber said are now being demobilized. As the project prepares for Phase II, half of the turbines will remain until a second substation is completed and ready to connect to the electric grid.
Officials said the substation is already in construction and is planned for fall 2025, to which the remaining turbines “will be relegated to a backup power role.”
“xAI is committed to Memphis through their sustainable environmental practices,” the chamber said in a statement. “The company is participating in the Demand Response program as outlined by MLGW and is exploring ways to provide energy to the grid for the benefit of the community, especially in emergency situations or other times of need.”
The gas turbines have been a source of controversy for community members and advocacy groups. Groups such as the Southern Environmental Law Center have criticized xAI for the amount of power these turbines have generated.
“Our analysis shows these turbines together have a power generating capacity of 421 megawatts — comparable to an entire TVA power plant — all constructed and operating unlawfully without any air permit in Southwest Memphis, a community that is profoundly overburdened with industrial pollution,” SELC said in a statement.
The Shelby County Health Department is currently in the process of deciding whether or not they will grant air permits for the gas turbines. Officials said the decision could take weeks, as their next steps are responding to comments made during their official public comment period.
Health department officials have noted that the permit is for 15 permanent turbines, and not 35, which SELC brought attention to in a letter to Michelle Taylor, director and health officer for the Shelby County Health Department.
The announcement of xAI’s connection comes after a resolution was passed on Monday by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners for an update to be given from both TVA and MLGW for the “remaining steps and time necessary to connect xAI to the local utility grid.”
Would you let a company control your home thermostat to help Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) save energy at peak-demand times?
MLGW and TVA announced a new program Tuesday that would do just that. The Smart Thermostat Rewards program will pay residential customers to conserve electricity when demand spikes.
TVA will pay customers $65 to enroll in the program. If they participate in at least 65 percent of the energy savings events, they’ll get $65 annually.
“Customers who participate will allow their thermostat to be temporarily adjusted — by no more than four degrees for no more than four hours — on high-energy-demand days,” reads a statement from MLGW. “Thermostat companies, not MLGW or TVA, will make the temperature adjustment remotely.
“Participants will receive an in-app notification of each energy event from their thermostat company and may choose to opt-out of events at any time, maintaining full control of their thermostat.”
To enroll, participants must:
• Be an MLGW residential customer.
• Have an eligible Wi-Fi enabled smart thermostat in the home or purchase a smart thermostat through the program.
• Maintain an always-on and stable home Wi-Fi network connected to the internet.
• Have an HVAC unit connected to their smart thermostat.
“We are empowering customers to be smart energy consumers while helping them enjoy the financial benefits of energy conservation,” said MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen. “Integrating the power grid with smart home technologies will help meet our region’s growing energy needs while saving consumers money on their power bills.”
Allen Fossil Plant (Photo: TVA Web Team | Creative Commons | via Wikimedia Commons)
The people of Memphis deserve clean air, affordable power bills, and a reliable energy system that doesn’t come at the cost of their health or future. Instead, TVA is pushing to expand the Allen gas plant in Southwest Memphis with six new methane gas-burning turbines. That means more pollution, higher bills, and more risk for the communities that have already been asked to carry too much. Let’s be clear: This is a bad deal. Memphis deserves better.
If these gas turbines are built, they will produce large amounts of air pollution that will cause and worsen serious health problems for nearby residents. Southwest Memphis residents already experience high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and adding more pollution to the air from burning methane gas will only deepen public health impacts and worsen the climate crisis.
This project is deeply unfair for communities in Southwest Memphis, where residents already carry heavy environmental burdens from the decades of pollution from fossil fuel infrastructure: the Allen coal plant, Valero refinery, Allen gas plant, Southaven gas plant, xAI, and now TVA’s Allen plant gas expansion plan. This is what the continuation of environmental injustice looks like.
TVA claims the gas expansion is necessary to meet electricity demand, but they’ve done a poor job of seriously evaluating other options. They haven’t conducted even basic analysis of how clean alternatives could meet power needs in a way that’s less risky and less harmful. TVA has tried to frame this as a binary choice: either build the new methane gas turbines, or do nothing and risk not meeting demand. But that’s a false choice. In reality, TVA could meet energy needs through a mix of proven, affordable solutions — like solar, wind, battery storage, energy efficiency, and demand reduction programs — that don’t come with decades of pollution and health consequences of burning methane gas.
But TVA is still pouring money into fossil fuel infrastructure that would lock Memphis into another generation of pollution, higher bills, and increased climate risk. At this point, it feels like TVA would rather keep polluting communities than do the work of building a cleaner, more just energy future. This is the same tired playbook: rush the process, sideline the public, and pretend there are no alternatives. That’s not leadership. That’s business as usual — and people are done with it.
It’s not just about pollution — though that alone should be reason enough to stop this. It’s about the massive opportunities that TVA is choosing to ignore. TVA has a long history of underinvesting in energy efficiency — simple, low-cost solutions like sealing air leaks and adding insulation that could make homes across Memphis healthier, safer, and more affordable to live in. These upgrades are especially important for low-income residents, many of whom want to improve their homes but can’t afford to do it on their own. TVA’s programs are often too limited, too complicated, or just not designed to reach the people who need them most. And while TVA has started to show some progress, it’s unacceptable for them to ignore the lowest cost, most immediate way to reduce energy demand while trying to justify building more gas infrastructure. Instead, TVA should be expanding programs that cut energy use and ease strain on the grid because that’s how you lower bills, improve reliability, and reduce pollution without making vulnerable communities pay the price.
Memphis has thousands of megawatts of rooftop solar potential, many times over what TVA says it needs from this gas expansion. That’s power from the sun, right here in the city, with no emissions and no added health risks. Shelby County also has tremendous capacity for utility-scale solar. MLGW’s own studies point to local solar as the smartest and most cost-effective choice for meeting power needs. And wind is already being harnessed just across the state line in Tunica County. Battery energy storage makes renewable energy available around the clock, improves the reliability of the grid, and can help bring the grid back online from a power outage. The tools are here. The technology is proven. The moment is now.
As someone working alongside partners in Memphis who are organizing around this issue, I’m proud to support their leadership. The voices coming out of Southwest Memphis are powerful — and they are calling for what every community deserves: transparency, accountability, and a future built on clean energy, not more pollution.
TVA was created to serve the people of the Tennessee Valley — not corporations, not industry. Its mission was public service. But somewhere along the way, that mission got lost. Now is the time to get back to it.
TVA should invest in the communities that have powered this region for generations — not sideline them. It should make real investments in proven, available clean energy that reduces bills, creates long-term, good-paying local jobs, and keeps the lights on without poisoning the air. Southwest Memphis doesn’t need more pollution. Memphis doesn’t need more excuses. And the people of the Tennessee Valley don’t need another generation locked into dirty energy and economic inequality.
TVA can still choose to lead. If they won’t, they’ll be remembered as the ones who stood in the way. Because the future is clean. The future is just. And the future will be powered by the people.
TVA is accepting public comments on this project until April 28th. Now is the time to speak up. Tell TVA to stop the methane gas expansion at the Allen Plant and invest in a clean energy future built on energy efficiency, solar, wind, battery storage, and demand reduction. Tell TVA to do better because Memphis deserves better — and the Tennessee Valley does, too.
As the decarbonization advocacy coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), Tracy O’Neill is a passionate advocate for clean energy and community empowerment.
Agricenter International’s five-acre solar farm produces enough energy to power the entire 1,000-acre Agricenter complex. (Photo: Tom Hrach)
After years of stagnation, Memphis is finally taking major steps toward creating a solar power system.
The news broke last month when Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) announced it would seek a site to install solar panels and purchase batteries to store electricity.
CEO Doug McGowen said the city-owned utility is seeking proposals to install 100 megawatts of solar generation and up to 80 megawatts of battery storage. The move is significant for Memphis, which trails many Tennessee communities and is far behind other Southeastern cities in developing community solar power.
Doug McGowen, president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)
“In our nation and around our world, our demand for energy will soon outpace our collective ability to meet it,” McGowen said in March. “If we are going to meet our needs here locally and nationally, we need everyone in the game. With today’s announcement, I will tell you MLGW is in the game. We are taking an important, huge first step in helping our community … meet the challenges ahead.”
The development hinges on a tentative “side agreement” with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that would allow MLGW to generate some of its own power. MLGW currently gets all its electricity from TVA under an exclusive contract that forbids it from getting electricity from any other source.
That decades-old contract has long stood in the way of MLGW developing solar power. First signed in December 1984, the rolling, five-year contract contains language preventing MLGW from getting power anywhere other than TVA.
MLGW is one of just five local power companies in TVA’s 153-local-utility system that hasn’t agreed to a long-term contract that allows signers to get up to 5 percent of their power from other sources. Some local utilities that have signed those 20-year contracts have left Memphis far behind in developing solar power.
McGowen hopes to change that.
“This does nothing to change our fundamental power agreement that we have with TVA,” he said. “This is going to be a side agreement, an amendment. That is what we will work on together, on something that will work for both organizations.”
Solar power is something MLGW has had in the works for at least two budget cycles. MLGW inserted money into its budget for solar power in fall 2023 when it prepared its 2024 budget. Money was then also included in fall 2024, when it prepared the budget for the current year.
McGowen’s March 5th announcement follows a report in February by the Institute for Memphis Public Service Reporting that detailed the impediment that the TVA contract poses to developing solar power.
“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 fuels, so solar is where it can come from,” said Dennis Lynch, a 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.”
In 2022, MLGW discussed entering a 20-year agreement with TVA, 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, 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, a Knoxville-based nonprofit. That is because committing long-term to TVA means Memphis likely could never get out from under TVA’s onerous exit clauses to pursue cheaper and cleaner energy sources, Smith said.
Under the terms of the current contract, MLGW must give TVA a five-year notice if it wants to leave. A long-term contract would require a 20-year notice, which means it would be decades before Memphis could get free from 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
Outlining his 2025 capital improvement plan at the October 2, 2024, MLGW board meeting, McGowen said the utility is doing what it can to move toward solar power by installing a first-ever battery storage system.
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,” he said. “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 an MLGW board meeting on February 5th, 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 its ability to provide electricity in order to support 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 implementing solar power at the utility scale 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 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 almost entirely served by TVA, is miles behind the average utility in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
The goal of creating Memphis’ 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 increasing 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 substantial progress had been made toward establishing a local solar power system in Memphis.
Photo: Tom Hrach
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. One of the most visible solar projects in Shelby County is happening at the Agricenter International, 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. The Shelby County government also generates electricity with the establishment of its modest collection of solar panels off of Farm Road behind the county construction code enforcement office.
How can Memphis start maximizing the benefits of solar power?
Citizen action is what is needed to change the situation, says 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 says. “They need to knock on the doors of MLGW and ask MLGW, ‘What are you doing to allow TVA to allow us to install solar?’”
At the March 5th announcement, Mayor Paul Young specifically thanked TVA for agreeing to allow Memphis to move forward with solar power. And he acknowledged how Memphis has been behind when it comes to solar power and creating sustainability energy.
“We know that power is one of the utmost concerns for people throughout this nation. We are thinking about ways to do this with more sustainability, cleaner, thinking about ways we can limit our impact on the environment,” Young said. “This is such an important step. I cannot say enough about how many strides MLGW has been taking.”
Young cited reliability as a key. Solar power and the batteries to store that power help a community keep the electricity flowing during blackouts, storms, and natural disasters.
Mike Pohlman, MLGW board chair, also acknowledged that Memphis has been behind in creating solar power. He said the board has been pushing MLGW for years to get moving on solar power.
“We have gotten out of the pace of snail. And things are happening a lot quicker. We have been looking at this solar thing for two years now. It is finally coming to fruition,” Pohlman said.
McGowen said the proposals for solar generation and battery storage are due back to MLGW by the end of April. He said the goal is to start producing and storing electricity by the end of 2026. MLGW has not yet identified a site for the solar facility.
Tom Hrach is a professor in the department of journalism and strategic media at the University of Memphis. He has a doctorate degree from Ohio University and has more than 18 years of full-time experience as a journalist.
The Nuclear Option
Earlier this month, the future of energy development in the Tennessee Valley was thrown into uncertain territory. TVA is owned by the federal government, having been established in 1933 during the first wave of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation. Its original purpose was to electrify the rural areas of Tennessee, which had been neglected by for-profit electric utility companies who feared the high cost of building thousands of miles of electrical transmission infrastructure to serve a relatively small population in what was at the time the most impoverished region in the country. These days, TVA receives no taxpayer money and operates by selling electricity to ratepayers like a privately owned utility company.
But the executive branch still has control over TVA’s board of directors, and in April, the Trump administration removed two board members, Michelle Moore and Board Chairman Joe Ritch. No reason was given for their removal. The board usually consists of nine members, but with the removal of Moore and Ritch, only four remain. That means that there is no longer a quorum on the board, effectively paralyzing the $12 billion organization which provides power for more than 10 million people.
Shortly before the firings, the board appointed Don Moul, the utility’s former chief operating officer, as the new president and CEO. After the firings, Justin Maierhofer, a longtime TVA executive, was appointed as chief of government relations. A new Enterprise Transformation Office, created by an executive order from President Trump, will seek to reorganize the utility’s leadership structure, according to reports from Knoxville News Sentinel. The office will seek at least $500 million in savings to make way for building new generation capacity.
What, if any, effects this shake-up will have on MLGW’s solar power plans are unclear. But if Tennessee senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn have their way, TVA’s focus will not be on solar but on nuclear energy. This is familiar territory for TVA, which was a pioneer in civilian use of nuclear power in the 1960s and ’70s. But the utility’s nuclear program has stagnated, thanks to ballooning costs for building huge power plants like the one at Watts Bar in Spring City, Tennessee, where the last new reactor came online in 2016 after decades of development and construction.
In an op-ed published in Power magazine, the two senators call for TVA to invest in a new fleet of nuclear power plants which would be smaller and easier to construct than the mammoth facilities the utility currently operates. “With the right courageous leadership, TVA could lead the way in our nation’s nuclear energy revival, empower us to dominate the 21st century’s global energy competition, and cement President Trump’s legacy as ‘America’s Nuclear Energy President.’” — Chris McCoy
Weather Channel reporter Charles Peek caught some great photos of lightning strikes in Memphis during last week’s severe storms.
Park Damage
Posted to Facebook by Overton Park
Those storms were unkind to Overton Park. A large tree fell over the paved trail close to Overton Bark and the limestone running trail “suffered significant erosion,” park officials said.
Park officials warned that the effects from the storm might not be over. The soil is still saturated and that “may mean that more trees are vulnerable even in the beautiful weather to come. So, please use caution on the trails and refrain from any high-impact usage of the dirt trails until they have a chance to dry out.”
Praise Be
Posted to Reddit by u/Hunterwho43
Redditors praised Memphis Light, Gas & Water’s tree-trimming efforts that likely kept the lights on for thousands of customers during the rainfall torrent. They also praised the weather-bending magic of Mongo and the Crystal Skull.
The MEMernet was wild for the white stuff last weekend. It was that “good snow,” making snowmen, snowballs, and snow sledding all easy and fun and driving not so dangerous.
“These children give added meaning to ‘birdie’ while taking flight Saturday above the Overton Park golf course,” said Tom Bailey on Facebook.
The Memphis Zoo’s socials were blown up last weekend. Reels showed tigers playing, a grizzly bear rolling in the snow, and Babu, a mandrill, knocking over a snowman.
Posted to Facebook by Memphis Zoo
There was also lots of love out there for the often-maligned city and Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW). Redditors tipped their hats to MLGW’s tree-trimming efforts, which helped to keep the lights on, and to the city for keeping the roads clear. Wow.
CA for Arts?
Posted to Facebook by Jay Etkin
Art gallery own Jay Etkin wants to turn the former Commercial Appeal building on Union into the Flow Museum of Art & Culture. Etkin said he is in talks with city, county, and state leaders on the idea.
The building is on the auction block at the end of the month. Another idea would turn the building into a vocation training center for youth (see here).
