Green Power

It's April, Spring is in the air, and everyone is thinking green. So, let's talk about Green Power.

What is Green Power?

Electricity generated from renewable resources, rather than traditional fossil fuels. Sources include: Sun, Wind, Methane, Water (hydro), Geothermal, and Bio-fuels. Green Power is clean, environmentally friendly energy with zero to little emissions.

TVA's Green Power Switch

Green Power Switch is a voluntary program where households, businesses and organizations pay extra each month to sponsor electric generation from renewable sources. (Green Power is available in $4 blocks from MLGW.)

By converting the energy in the sun, wind and methane gas, TVA now generates a portion of our electricity from renewable resources. This clean, green energy gets mixed into the overall electric supply, reducing the need for traditional generation. Currently, green power accounts for far less than 1% of the electricity TVA generates but, as more customers enroll, that percentage will grow. TVA operates 18 renewable generation sites.

Sixteen solar generation locations like this one at Bridges, Inc. in Memphis generate ~350 kiloWatts per year.


Solar panels, containing photovoltaic (PV) cells, convert sunlight into DC electric power. Inverters convert to AC electric power. Participating PV systems range from 4 kW to 50 kW and produce power from ~ 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., depending on season. (They produce less power on cloudy days.) PV systems are expensive and on average it takes about one year to generate one month's usage.

One wind farm at Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge, TN generates ~30 MegaWatts per year.


This is the first wind farm in Southeastern U.S., located on reclaimed strip mine. Three turbines became operational in 2000; 15 turbines were added in 2004. Each turbine is 213 - 260’ tall, with a blade length of 75 - 135’!!


The windmills operate in winds between 10 - 55 mph; 25 mph is optimum. There are no significant hazards to birds, and the windmills will not interfere with radio or TV.

One methane gas collaboration at the Memphis Water Waste Treatment Plant next to TVA's Allen Fossil Plant generates ~4 MegaWatts per year.



Methane is created naturally as part of the wastewater treatment process. It was previously flared at the collection point to reduce the explosion hazard. Now it is piped from the City of Memphis Wastewater Treatment Plant to TVA’s Allen Fossil Plant, where it is co-burned with coal. This has had the direct positive environmental benefit of reducing local coal burning by 20,000+ tons annually.

MLGW customers sponsor generation of 5,824,800 kWh (kiloWatt hours) of green power annually, which is equal to:

Recycling 24.8 million aluminum cans, or

Planting 1,618 acres of trees, or

Recycling 1,429 tons of newspaper, or

Removing 539 cars from the roads for one year, or

Eliminating 4,357 tons of CO2, 11.3 tons of SO2 and 29.1 tons of NOx

To date, there are 750 MLGW customers enrolled in Green Power Switch. Just imagine what a difference YOU could make. Sign up today!.