On September 1, 2022, MLGW began a comment period to hear from Memphians about the future of our power supply. Now is the time for you to raise your voice and let MLGW board and Memphis City Council know why the future of Memphis and Shelby County's energy supply matters to you personally and why the MLGW Board and Memphis City Council to oppose a neverending contract with TVA.
Reasons why MLGW should not sign TVA's forever contract:
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The decision MLGW makes on our power supplier will have a direct impact on your bill
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The 30-40% increase in our bills this past summer was largely the result of TVA passing their increased costs from reliance on fossil fuels on to customers, yet they’re still planning to increase gas usage, which will continue to affect our utility bills.
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TVA decided behind closed doors to truck toxic coal ash through South Memphis - every day for the next 10 years - and still are not responding to our concerns about the toxic dangers.
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TVA would continue to limit our ability to invest in local solar projects and energy efficiency programs, instead using the money from our electricity bills to fund big fossil plants and pipelines.
Learn more about why MLGW should not sign a forever contract with TVA at
NotPublicPower.org.
the issue
Memphians are charged too much for power and are impacted by fossil fuel pollution. For too long, TVA has neglected to meet Memphians’ needs for affordable, equitable and clean energy and is now trying to lock Memphis into decades more of the status quo: polluting our air, spending millions of dollars on corporate jets while our low-income neighbors get their power shut off, and blocking investment in clean, affordable solar energy that would make our communities healthier and more resilient.
the solutions
Memphis is at a historic turning point where it could chart a new course to energy justice and affordable, equitable and clean energy. Reducing energy waste through energy efficiency and harnessing low-cost renewable power would lower bills for customers and help reduce the pollution that harms our community. Memphis leaders must work to give MLGW the autonomy needed to bring home the benefits of energy efficiency and low-cost clean energy, even if it means leaving TVA.
ABOUT US
MEMPHIS HAS THE POWER is a campaign to ensure Memphians have affordable, equitable, and clean energy. We are working to achieve energy justice and create a cleaner, more prosperous Memphis. The campaign has worked in the Memphis community for several years, backstopped by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE). Our work has lifted up Memphians who struggle with unaffordable energy bills and has helped result in large increases in funding to help Memphians with lower incomes reduce their energy bills through the 2017 re-design of MLGW’s home weatherization Share the Pennies program into an opt-out format. SACE is an appointed member of MLGW’s Power Supply Advisory Team, the community advisory team helping shape MLGW’s integrated resource plan.