Government incentives that helped fuel a sort of solar power boom in Tennessee are being pulled back. TVA says the cost has become unsustainable.
The program gives home owners or businesses cash and low-cost loans to pay for wind mills or more often rooftop solar panels. TVA heavily advertised the program last year.
“Generation Partners was created so TVA and local power companies could work with customers to create clean, green energy.”
More than 600 projects are operating with another 200 approved. And too many of them are big offices and manufacturers. So TVA is now limiting the program to systems smaller than 50 kilowatts, roughly the amount needed to power a single home.
Vice president of commercial operations John Trawick says TVA has an “obligation” to make sure Generation Partners is available to “the residential and small businesses it was originally designed for.”
TVA says the cost of solar panels has dropped enough to reduce the need for government incentives. But the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy argues TVA’s decision will “constrain the development” of large scale solar systems. Executive director Stephen Smith says TVA is moving “in the wrong direction” and could cause job losses in the region.
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