The Tennessee Valley Authority continues to expand its network of long-term power distributors with the decision by another municipal power utility to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement with TVA.
The Jackson Energy Authority, the 85-year-old, city-owned utility that serves 35,700 business and residential customers in Jackson, Tennessee, spent nearly two years evaluating potential alternative suppliers to TVA before ultimately deciding to stay in the TVA fold. Jackson Energy directors recently approved a rolling 20-year agreement to buy most of the authority’s electricity from TVA for the foreseeable future.
Jackson Energy Authority is the 146th local power company in the Tennessee Valley to agree to the long-term partnership with TVA, although seven other utilities that buy TVA power – including TVA’s biggest customer in Memphis – have yet to sign the long-term agreements.
“I know a lot of other local power companies signed the long-term power agreement with TVA fairly quickly,” said Monte Cooper Sr., vice president of electric distribution at the Jackson Energy Authority. “But for us to move from our old [termination] notice requirement of five years to a new provision with a 20-year notice requirement [to split with TVA] we wanted to take our time and do our due diligence to make sure this is right for the community.”
Jackson Energy sees TVA advantages