Charlie Coggeshall, SACE Renewable Energy Manager, also contributed to this post. Last month the Tennessee Valley Authority proudly announced what they considered to be good news: That their 2013 Green Power Provider (GPP) program had already met its 2013 solar application target as of April 24th. Even though there is still a strong demand for [...]
Do you want to invest in solar, but you can’t? Maybe your roof doesn’t point south, or it’s shaded most of the time. Maybe you rent. Maybe you just can’t come up with the up-front cost of a solar system. Well, if your local distributor is Duck River EMC, all those problems are solved! Duck [...]
This article, written by Dr. Arjun Makhijani, was originally published in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Dr. Makhijani is the President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Takoma Park, Md. The highly touted “nuclear renaissance” is ending with a whimper. Private investors don’t want the risk of the huge investments new reactors require. [...]
Just over a year ago we made the decision to continue to practice what we preach with the installation and activation of our own solar photovoltaic array at our Knoxville, TN office. As part of a series of energy efficiency improvements to our new office, we knew that installing the solar system was the ideal [...]
The Southeast utilities are starting to step up their game in energy efficiency. I am pleased to report that three of the major utilities here in the Southeast not only met their 2012 energy efficiency goals, they exceeded them by 2-22%! The idea of energy efficiency goals in the South was just a glimmer in [...]
Update: On February 7, 2013 the organizations on this letter received a response from Senator Corker’s office; the letter can be viewed here. We have still received no response from Senator Alexander’s office. January 11, 2013 The Honorable Robert Corker & Honorable Lamar Alexander United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senators Alexander and Corker, [...]
Those fighting for the mountains and those who make the mountains their home have won a crucial victory. On Thursday, November 15, 2012, Patriot Coal became the first U.S. operator to stop large-scale mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. Patriot Coal is known for destructive large-scale mining projects in Central Appalachia, an area of the country [...]
TVA issued a press release on the results of its 2012 fiscal year energy efficiency numbers at the beginning of the month, and we are happy to see that TVA and its distributors exceeded their energy efficiency goals. TVA reported that its energy efficiency and demand response programs reduced electricity useage by 560 GWh in [...]
Today the Union of Concerned Scientists released an important new report entitled “Ripe for Retirement: The Case for Closing America’s Costliest Coal Plants”, which highlights the financial uncertainty of many coal plants around the nation. It turns out that the Southeast is home to a staggering number of inefficient and uneconomic coal plants. As of May 31, [...]
Today’s appointment of former Progress Energy CEO William Johnson as the new CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is raising the eyebrows of clean energy advocates across the region, including here at SACE. Though willing to maintain an open mind, I’m surprised that TVA’s Board would hire Mr. Johnson with his controversial past. Of [...]
