Life On The Plateau

TVA program that spurs solar installations put on hold
Generation Partners not taking new participants

By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • June 17, 2010

TVA’s popular program that pays homeowners and businesses to generate electricity from solar energy has hit a wall.

Much of the $50 million set aside for the Generation Partners program has been committed as applications from even more would-be participants stack up.

Costly, mega projects by opportunistic investors may be eating up the money — versus smaller solar installations by homeowners or businesses that need the power themselves and for whom the program has been largely pitched.

Tennessee Valley Authority officials told a group of distributors that administer the program through formal agreements on Wednesday that a moratorium was being imposed.

“We were shocked,” said Jim Purcell, at Nashville Electric Service. “We were absolutely shocked.

“We just signed a brand new agreement in April that we thought positioned us for years.”

TVA says the halt to signing up new participants is only temporary.

"We’ve had an overwhelming response to Generation Partners in really the last few months," said Susan Curtis, senior project manager for the program.

She said TVA will work with distributors to get it going again on an interim basis this summer as they find a longer-term way to keep it moving forward.

Anyone who has a contract signed with TVA — whether their project is built yet or not — can still take part in Generation Partners.

Installers have been cautioned in the past not to start work for customers until a contract that ensures the customer will be in the program has been signed, Purcell said.

The Generation Partners program has been heavily promoted and praised by TVA as evidence of its deep commitment to green energy, which doesn’t pollute the environment.

The program could fund wind and other forms of renewable energy systems too, but solar energy has been the best fit for most residences and businesses in the region TVA serves. That includes virtually all of Tennessee and parts of six other states.

TVA’s popular program that pays homeowners and businesses to generate electricity from solar energy has hit a wall.

Much of the $50 million set aside for the Generation Partners program has been committed as applications from even more would-be participants stack up.

Costly, mega projects by opportunistic investors may be eating up the money — versus smaller solar installations by homeowners or businesses that need the power themselves and for whom the program has been largely pitched.

Tennessee Valley Authority officials told a group of distributors that administer the program through formal agreements on Wednesday that a moratorium was being imposed.

“We were shocked,” said Jim Purcell, at Nashville Electric Service. “We were absolutely shocked.

“We just signed a brand new agreement in April that we thought positioned us for years.”

TVA says the halt to signing up new participants is only temporary.

"We’ve had an overwhelming response to Generation Partners in really the last few months," said Susan Curtis, senior project manager for the program.

She said TVA will work with distributors to get it going again on an interim basis this summer as they find a longer-term way to keep it moving forward.

Anyone who has a contract signed with TVA — whether their project is built yet or not — can still take part in Generation Partners.

Installers have been cautioned in the past not to start work for customers until a contract that ensures the customer will be in the program has been signed, Purcell said.

The Generation Partners program has been heavily promoted and praised by TVA as evidence of its deep commitment to green energy, which doesn’t pollute the environment.

The program could fund wind and other forms of renewable energy systems too, but solar energy has been the best fit for most residences and businesses in the region TVA serves. That includes virtually all of Tennessee and parts of six other states.
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Generation Partners has been responsible for an increasing number of solar arrays seen on rooftops statewide. It’s also been sparking formation of a flurry of new companies to install solar energy equipment.

There are federal tax credits available, too, to homeowners and businesses, and a Generations Partners rebate has been another carrot. Between the different incentives, solar had become more financially feasible and has been blossoming.

Steve Johnson, with LightWave Solar Electric, is worried about the program ending.

It has helped his company grow over the last few years from one person to 18, with a new hire coming in next week.

Without the various solar incentives — Tennessee state government doesn’t offer any for residences — jobs will likely be lost and the fledgling industry could start to slide, he said.

“They’re spending $3 billion cleaning up from coal,” Johnson said, referring to money spent on TVA’s Kingston coal ash spill and re-tooling its other ash sites.

“This $50 million is a drop in the bucket. It would be nice if we had a $3 billion budget because we would actually be producing electricity with it — cleanly.”

TVA relies heavily — about 60% — on burning coal. Its second highest amount of electricity generation is from nuclear power plants, followed by hydroelectric dams.

Generation Partners, available through more than half of TVA's distributors, has been offering $1,000 toward a solar electric system.

A homeowner is paid 12 cents per kilowatt-hour on top of the retail cost that electricity sells for, about 9 cents per kilowatt hour in Nashville. What’s generated shows up as a credit on one’s electric bill.

Read more in The Tennessean tomorrow.

Contact Anne Paine at 615-259-8071 or apaine@tennessean.com.

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TVA halts popular solar program as money dries up
Major ventures sap large chunk of incentive money

By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • June 18, 2010