The Southeast United States is increasingly being powered by the sun with solar power generation expected to triple in the next five years, according to a new study by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
But the environmental group claims the Tennessee Valley Authority is not keeping pace with its peers, especially utilities in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
“Solar in the Southeast has been virtually doubling every year since 2012,” said Dr. Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “We’ve seen significant investments and significant leadership by a number of utilities and this is a great economic development tool to create jobs and to attract businesses interested in clean energy.”
Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/19/17. Robert Cole takes a lunch break from working on EPB’s Solar Share Farm located off of Holtzclaw Ave. on Wednesday April 19, 2017.But Smith said TVA, which was an early leader in small-scale, distributed solar, got less than 40 percent as much from solar power last year as the average of all electric utilities in the Southeast. TVA’s projected growth in solar also is not as much as in neighboring states where state legislation and utility regulators are pushing for more solar generation.
“Looking at the low performance path that TVA is currently on, coupled with their current rate change process that further undercuts solar development in their service territory, it is clear that TVA will need a serious course correction to avoid being in last place in the region,” Smith said.