One Comment to 'TVA plays catch-up'
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TVA plays catch-up
Posted By katie allison granju
Comparing TVA’s performance to other utilities in issues of efficiency and green power:
TVA, once one of the most conservation-oriented utilities in the country, abandoned its innovative ways in the 1980s and is only now returning to a major focus on energy efficiency.
As a result of the decades-long lag, Tennesseans use more residential electricity per person than any other state except Alabama. In contrast, utilities in several other parts of the country have embraced efforts to reduce electricity use by customers, leapfrogging TVA and offering a wide array of programs designed to save energy.
AdvertisementFor example, the city-run electric utility in Austin, Texas, put measures in place over the past 25 years that saved more electricity than a new power plant would generate.
In contrast, TVA continued on a nuclear power spending program, approving $2.5 billion last year to complete a new nuclear reactor at Watts Bar in East Tennessee. It spent $1.8 billion to restart another nuclear unit last year in Alabama. The agency also paid out $1 billion last year to buy electricity outside its own grid.
Only after committing billions to increasing nuclear power has the agency made a serious pledge to promote efficiency as part of its overall strategy. And the $36 million it has set aside this year to do so is only a fraction of the amount going for more nuclear power.
As Michael Silence would say…OUCH!
Jun 2nd, 2008
Yes, TVA was a leader in efficiency improvements and in conservation. Because of the great work done years ago, there is very little additional savings that can be found. It will be extremely difficult to find 1400MW of savings. Besides, the load grows by about 1400MW every two years. Tennesseans use more electricity because of the weather - hot summers and cold winters and because electricity is the primary source of energy instead of oil or gas like many other states. It is not because we are wasteful.