Regional investments top $4 billion

TVA’s megasite program helped lure nearly $5 billion of investments into Tennessee Valley sites from Volkswagen, Toyota and other manufacturers in the past six years.

But the biggest recruitment in the Tennessee Valley in 2009 came on a non-megasite in Charleston, Tenn., where Wacker Chemie AG will break ground in January for a $1 billion-plus polysilicon manufacturing plant. The Wacker investment was part of $4.2 billion of business projects announced in TVA’s seven-state region during 2009.

Those investments and TVA’s business assistance programs helped earn TVA a top 10 utility ranking for economic development from Site Selection magazine for the fifth consecutive year.

Roy Starner, executive vice president of Atlanta-based Site Selection, said the top utilities recognized for economic development “are engaged now more than ever in providing companies with certified sites” and “are always looking for ways to save industrial power customers money.”

The German-based Wacker Chemie chose a site near the Hiwassee River in Bradley County to build a chemical plant to serve the solar industry — the second such $1 billion-plus facility of its kind to locate in Tennessee.

Although Wacker will supply the solar energy industry, the company praised the relatively low electrical cost from TVA, which generates nearly all of its electricity from coal, nuclear, naturall gas and hydroelectric generation.

“We were competing with the world for this (Wacker) project,” said John Bradley, senior vice president of economic development for TVA. “We had Volkswagen, Toyota, Hemlock Semiconductor and Wacker all announce billion-dollar projects within about 18 months. That is pretty amazing.”

Last year, TVA also hired a consultant, Deloitte, to begin to identify sites for data centers to locate in the 80,000 square miles of the TVA service region.

“The goal is to get our communities more prepared for these projects,” Bradley said.

The new initiative is similar to the industrial megasite selection program TVA launched in 2004, which the utility credits with helping to net 5,600 jobs.

Other Southern utilities recognized as top performers by Site Selection for 2009 include Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Duke Energy and Memphis Light, Gas & Electric.