Nearly a century after the Tennessee Valley Authority was created to harness the power of the Tennessee River, an upstart power cooperative plans to use the sun to deliver electricity within part of TVA’s service territory.
Organizers of the Jackson Sustainability Cooperative in West Tennessee insist they can deliver clean, cheap and sustainable power to help supplement TVA-generated electricity by building and operating their own $67 million solar farm and battery storage hub.
But the pioneering proposal has sparked a power battle. TVA and its local distributor, the Jackson Energy Authority, claim the new Jackson cooperative is illegal and a threat to TVA’s integrated power model.
Supporters of the solar project said TVA and the Jackson Energy Authority want to maintain monopoly control.
The dispute is before a state regulatory agency. The Tennessee Public Utilities Commission is being asked to authorize the new power cooperative and either grant a certificate to allow the new energy system or grant it an exemption from regulations barring independent power distribution within TVA’s service territory.