Two new Tennessee programs set to help residents and businesses save energy and reduce costs

The State of Tennessee announced two separate energy efficiency programs this week: one to assist residents in the purchase of energy efficient heating and cooling equipment, and the other to provide low interest financing to Tennessee businesses for energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofits.
On Monday, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) announced [...]

TVA Announces Old Coal Retirements

Last Friday the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced a new vision for its energy portfolio at their August Board meeting. (We will be blogging on this in more detail soon.)
TVA CEO Tom Kilgore expressed the hope that TVA will become “one of the nation’s leading providers of low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020″. One of [...]

Dysfunctional politics continues to stall confirmation of TVA Board nominees

Nearly a year after President Obama nominated four people to fill vacant seats on TVA’s Board of Directors, and 6 months after the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works unanimously approved the nominations, it seems backdoor politics and partisan bickering are keeping the Board nominees from final confirmation by the Senate.
We see no reason [...]

Knoxville Jail Locks Up One of the Largest Solar Hot Water Systems in the Nation

Contributions to this blogpost were made by SACE’s Lauren Steier and Joanna Malcom of FLS Energy.

A huge solar hot water system was recently installed on Knox County’s Detention Center just outside of Knoxville, TN. This solar thermal system consists of 300 flat plate collectors and will provide hot water to more than 1,000 inmates, which [...]

Join Hands Across the Sand this Saturday

On summer weekends visitors and residents alike head to beaches across our region to surf, fish, swim and play. One hard reality of the still-ongoing Gulf oil disaster is that at least 100 miles of Gulf coastline cannot welcome people or animals due to the oil and tar balls that continue to wash up [...]

The Southeast Has A Ten Billion Coal Dollar Habit

In 2008, Southeastern utilities spent six times more on coal from Colombia (yes, the country in South America) than they did helping their customers cut energy waste at home.
In fact, the Southeast spent over $10 billion in 2008 to import coal from other states and countries to fuel power plants, according to a [...]

Interesting Post on the TN Floods

I was talking to friends and family in Nashville after this weekend’s devastating floods, that smashed rainfall records. I found the following blog post an interesting overview of the dynamics at work as we destabilize the climate. The mainstream media does not connect the dots so we will.

Polk County schools make Lakeland look energy smart

An outstanding showing by the Polk County School District propelled Lakeland, FL to a #7 ranking on the second-annual list of top 25 cities with the most Energy Star labeled buildings. Along with four other Southeastern cities, Lakeland’s Energy Star buildings are cutting energy waste by millions of dollars (and reducing global warming pollution).
Lakeland’s dramatic [...]

TVA wind purchases open the door to new opportunities

Quietly, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has been signing contracts with several wind developers that will put the federal utility in a position to significantly grow its wind energy portfolio in 2012, if all goes to plan.
Over the past 5 months, TVA has announced multiple contracts with Invenergy Wind, CPV Renewable Energy Co., Iberdrola [...]

No Solution, Just More Pollution

When the 111th Congress reconvened last month, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a “disapproval resolution” (S.J. Res 26) which many in the environmental community are calling the “Dirty Air Act.”  What may seem like a simple statement of disapproval is actually a back-door attempt to use Senate procedures to cripple an essential environmental law.
Sen. Murkowski, [...]