Calvert Street Group Attends TenneSEIA
Tennessee’s solar developers and technology makers gathered in Knoxville, TN and the mood was cautiously optimistic. One would’ve thought those involved in the growth of the renewable energy industry would be over the moon with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, channeling $369 billion federal dollars into energy security and climate change mitigation. The Act, recently passed by Congress, is America’s largest single investment in reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
But there are headwinds facing those in renewable energy. China’s zero-COVID policies have slowed production of solar equipment and the U.S. domestic supply chain hasn’t yet caught up to the demand for panels. That, to a large extent is why installed systems in the Third Quarter slowed to a three year low. Still, the federal government’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 has Tennessee’s solar industry looking for ways to remove barriers to expanding the amount of electricity generated by renewables.
TenneSEIA, the statewide industry association representing solar companies doing business in Tennessee clearly believes a good start to expansion is to strengthen the dialogue with major players in the generation and land use sectors. That’s why many of the attendees were encouraged by statements from Tennessee Valley Authority Chief Commercial Officer Don Moul who said the federally charted power generator plans to increase the amount of renewable energy in its portfolio by 10,000 megawatts by 2035. Moul also expects to see more than 200,000 electric vehicles being driven by consumers in the Tennessee Valley by 2028 which means TVA will be focused on expanding the network of vehicle charging stations across the region. TVA currently operates 17 utility scale solar generating facilities and Moul says more are on the way.
The solar industry also received an update from executives at Ford Motor Company about construction of Blue Oval City, the automaker’s massive $5.6 billion assembly plant on the state megasite in Haywood County, TN where Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric truck will be manufactured. Ford said building a carbon neutral, zero waste manufacturing facility at Blue Oval City is a serious goal for the automaker.
From a dialogue standpoint, however, TenneSEIA was especially pleased to hear the views of Kevin Hensley, director of public policy for the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation. In many of the states where Calvert Street Group works with solar developers to get projects sited, opposition often springs from farmers and agricultural landowners who aren’t familiar with how utility scale solar operates and who worry about competition for arable farmland. Multiple studies by universities have shown the amount of acreage solar takes out of production is small, but that hasn’t stopped some rural counties from throwing up barriers to renewable development.
As a result, both TenneSEIA and the Tennessee Farm Bureau have agreed that opening the lines of communication between members of both organizations can lead to better decisions by policy makers when creating the rules of the road for solar development.
