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Archive for month: July, 2013
The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association announces its purchase of a 14,125-square-foot office building located at 2964 Sidco Drive in the 100 Oaks area of Nashville.
TECA purchased the building from Knestrick Construction, which will continue to operate out of the building as a tenant. The association will occupy approximately 10,000 square feet of space in the recently renovated facility. TECA is in the process of selling its current building on Spence Lane where it has operated for more than 50 years.
“We are excited about the new location,” says David Callis, executive vice president and general manager of TECA. “The central location, Interstate access and close proximity to restaurants and other amenities make this a great location for our association. We will be easily accessible to our member cooperatives from around the state and be near Legislative Plaza, downtown and the airport.”
TECA will continue to operate from its facility at 710 Spence Lane until the relocation is completed in September.
Our future address:
Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association
2964 Sidco Drive, Nashville, TN
Choices. Not quite as American as apple pie, but pretty close. Given the foundations and the relative wealth of our nation, we’re accustomed to having lots of choices in just about everything we do. We like to have choices, whether it’s selecting a movie to watch, buying a car, or deciding on chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or one of the 28 other flavors.
Other choices are more complex and have long-lasting consequences. One of our most complicated choices involves producing enough energy and getting that energy into your home. This continuous process involves thousands of co-op member- owners and employees across the nation every single day.
The Tennessee Valley Authority generates the electricity we deliver, and its task is as challenging as ours. Some decisions in the past may have knocked TVA from its perch as the lowest-cost provider, but TVA has a long history of providing dependable, low-cost power to Tennesseans.
Generating and delivering electricity to your home involves a lot of difficult choices — a difficult-to-achieve balance of providing enough energy and doing so with a limited impact on the environment. It takes a balance of engineering, design and operational efficiency against environmental and safety concerns. Add cost-effectiveness to that list, and you’ve set some tough goals.
Sometimes, we don’t get to choose. There have been countless attempts to craft energy policy at the federal level. Past efforts would have punished the Southeast for our geography. The wind and sun don’t create as much energy in our region as they do in the West and Midwest. And they never will. Tax credits and financial incentives can’t make the wind blow or the sun shine.
To put it succinctly, we don’t need — or want — Washington policymakers making decisions on how we generate our electricity. Political machinations are a poor substitute for meticulous planning and analysis. Even worse, the choices made by outsiders are ours to live with for decades.
Effective energy policy should be about providing choices. Different solutions work better for different parts of the country.
One example: TVA and the Department of Energy recently entered into a partnership developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Together with Babcock & Wilcox, this cooperative effort could lead to a new generation of lower-cost, clean generation capacity. TVA has been evaluating small nuclear reactors for several years. The Clinch River site, which TVA had once slated for a much larger, costlier facility, is where the SMR project will be located.
This type of project is among those needed for a balanced energy future. Energy policy shouldn’t be about picking winners and losers; it should be focused on providing you with an affordable, reliable supply of electricity.
The nation’s electric utilities will need a variety of energy sources, from solar arrays to SMRs, to meet those needs. We can achieve our energy goals; we just need the freedom to make the right choices.
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More than 140 high school juniors from across Tennessee experienced an in-depth look at our nation’s capital during the 2013 Rural Electric Youth Tour.
Students from across the state were rewarded with a weeklong tour of Washington, D.C., for writing winning short stories titled “Electric Cooperatives: Powering Your Communities” describing how locally owned, member-controlled electric cooperatives provide valuable community-building support in addition to reliable and affordable electric service.
The Washington Youth Tour is a joint effort of Tennessee’s local electric cooperatives, the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Each school year, cooperatives sponsor a short story contest for high school juniors. Winners are awarded spots on the expense-paid trip to our nation’s capital the following June as part of the Washington Youth Tour. This year’s tour ran June 13-20 and included meeting with elected officials, visits to Washington’s popular tourist stops and time to visit with winners representing other co-ops across the state.
Students on the tour visited the White House and memorials to past presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well as monuments honoring the sacrifices of veterans of World War II and the Vietnam and Korean conflicts. Strolls through the varied museums of the Smithsonian Institution afforded the students opportunities to learn more about science, history and art. Other fun stops included homes of former presidents — George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s Monticello — a performance of “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a boat cruise down the Potomac River and tours of the National Museum of Crime and Punishment, Ford’s Theatre and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
The Youth Tour also included a solemn and sobering visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where the group laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. And the Tennessee group marveled at the precision and skill of the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon at the Sunset Parade, performed in front of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial’s iconic statue re-creating the flag-raising over Iwo Jima during World War II.
No trip to Washington, D.C., would be complete without a lesson or two in government and civics. The group was welcomed to the U.S. Capitol by Reps. Marsha Blackburn and Stephen Fincher, and their staff members treated students to a special after-hours, VIP tour. Students also met Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker as well as former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. Several representatives also spent some time with their constituents outside the Capitol and posed for photos.
Tennessee’s Youth Tour delegation joined other trip winners from across the country for Youth Day on Monday, June 17. More than 1,500 students came together to swap stories of their Washington experiences. They listened to presentations by former Nebraska State Sen. David Landis, who told, in character, the story of the late U.S. Sen. George W. Norris of Neb., explaining the formation of and the politics surrounding the creation of electric cooperatives and the Rural Electrification Act. And Mike Schlappi, a four-time Paralympic medalist and two-time wheelchair basketball champion, urged the young attendees, “Just because you can’t stand up doesn’t mean you can’t stand out.”
Wind energy development in the United States is rushing past recent growth records. For example, 6,819 megawatts of generating capacity were installed in 2011; in 2012, that figure jumped to more than 13,000 MW, according to the American Wind Energy Association. In total, the U.S. has more than 60,000 MW of installed wind power capacity.
Since 1 MW powers 750 to 1,000 average homes, more than 45 million American residences could be powered by wind. I say “could be” because wind doesn’t blow constantly. In fact, in our part of the country, there are very few places where the wind blows consistently enough for it to be a reliable power source. While we can’t rely on wind 24/7, it is one tool to have as part of a balanced generation fuel mix.
The industry boomed thanks to federal subsidies for construction of wind farms, sharp drops in production costs and rural economic development projects. Construction of the turbines themselves, however, is not the full cost associated with installing wind production on the electric grid.
Across the country, 50 electric co-ops either own wind turbines or buy output from wind farms, amounting to 4.3 gigawatts, or about 9 percent of the U.S. wind generating capacity. Of course, states in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains enjoy more opportunities for wind power than most others.
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s wind power site is on Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge. In 2004, TVA greatly expanded its wind-generating capacity by adding 15 very large turbines to the three original smaller ones at the site.
The newer turbines expanded the capacity of the Buffalo Mountain site to 29 MW of generation, or enough to power about 3,780 homes, according to TVA. The turbines are about 260 feet tall, and the blades are 135 feet long. They have a capacity of 1.8 MW each. The three original turbines, with a capacity of 660 kilowatts each, are 213 feet tall, and their blades are 75 feet long. Generally, the higher the tower, the better the access to the wind.
The primary federal subsidy for wind power project development — federal production tax credits — is available only to for-profit electric utilities. That means not-for-profit electric cooperatives can’t take advantage of the subsidies. Extension of the production tax credit is a hot topic in Washington, D.C., and the credit is likely to end soon.
To get competitive prices, electric co-ops and their wholesale power providers must sign agreements to buy electricity from private-sector wind projects or arrange long-term leasing agreements with a developer who qualifies for the federal incentives, rather than developing wind projects on their own. This would include the expense of transmitting the power from the Midwest to Tennessee.
While the idea of generating electricity from the wind seems to be a no-brainer — the fuel is free, after all — its costs rob wind power of some of its luster. If your cooperative were to rely upon wind generation to power your home, the utility would also require some form of backup power source to combat the intermittency of the wind. In essence, the utility must have redundant sources of generation. And that is very expensive.
Electric cooperatives are no strangers to innovation. As technology continues to advance, we will work hard to provide you with affordable, reliable electric power in a way that makes the most sense for your community.
To learn about other ways we’re looking out for you, visit www.tnelectric.org.
It’s time for you to have your say in determining the best Tennessee has to offer. We again invite — and urge — you to help name the honorees of the 2013 Best of Tennessee Readers’ Choice Awards, which recognize winners from the three regions of the Volunteer State. And just for nominating your favorites, you’ll be entered in a drawing for entertaining Tennessee-themed prizes. Vote in as many or as few categories as you feel knowledgeable, but keep in mind that only ballots with 15 or more categories with at least one vote will be eligible for the prize drawing.
You can vote for up to three “Bests” in any given category. As an example, if you have a favorite state park in each region of the state — West, Middle and East — then you can vote for one in each.
Please be as specific as possible. For example, for Favorite Hiking Trail, specify the name of the trail such as the Fiery Gizzard Trail in the South Cumberland Recreation Area. Please include the towns where businesses or parks are located. Generic answers will not be counted. To celebrate the uniqueness of Tennessee, please exclude national franchises and chains (restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, etc.) from your responses.
Our annual “Best of Tennessee” is a fun way to interact with our readers and honor the great aspects of our state.
Official Rules
- No purchase necessary.
- One entry per person.
- Ballot must be postmarked no later than Thursday, Aug 15, 2013.
- To be eligible for the prize drawings, ballots must have a “Best of Tennessee” vote in at least 15 categories.
- You can cast votes in any or all of the regions.
- Drawing to be held by Friday, Aug. 30.
- Must be at least 18 years old to win.
- Grand-prize winners will be notified by mail.
Best of Tennessee results will be published in the October edition of The Tennessee Magazine. Electric cooperative employees and their immediate families are not eligible for the prize giveaways.
Enter online for a chance to win $250
You can vote online. To encourage online balloting, we will randomly choose one entry from our online submissions to win $250.
How to enter via mail
Complete the contact information form below, cast your votes on the ballot on the next page and mail both to the address on the form below.
Prize packages
Winners will be chosen randomly from a drawing of all entries received. Three grand-prize packages will be awarded (one each from West, Middle and East Tennessee). Remember, you must vote in at least 15 categories to be eligible for the prize drawing.
Winners will receive certificates courtesy of Tennessee State Parks for up to a four-night stay at any of the six state resort park inns. The resort parks are Fall Creek Falls, Henry Horton, Montgomery Bell, Natchez Trace, Paris Landing and Pickwick Landing. Visit www.tn.gov/environment/parks.
Each winner will receive a basket of farm-direct and locally made artisan foods from Pick Tennessee Products, a division of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
The Tennessee Magazine will award $250 to each winner to spend while you’re enjoying your state park visit.
