As we move into Q3 of FY24, we are looking forward to making more strides toward an energy-efficient Tennessee Valley! Read below to hear from some of our leaders on where we’re focusing our efforts for the rest of the year.

“Wow! I can’t believe half the year has already passed. As we finish out the year, our focus remains steadfast on efforts to balance system needs, deliver impactful energy equity programs and promote clean energy services. Our partnership with you is critical to meet these goals and deliver our mission to make life better for those we serve – thank you for everything you’ve done to support our mutual goals and thank you for all the ways you continue to partner with us in the future!” 

- Monika Beckner, Vice President, Energy Services and Programs

“We have set some aggressive energy savings and demand reduction goals to ensure we are keeping energy costs low for the people in our region and using energy efficiently. Every kWh we save, we can use elsewhere to serve the growth we are seeing in the Valley and improve our capacity position. We are focused on partnering with you to be innovative in our approach to programs and services while instilling confidence that we are focused on energy efficiency and demand management for the long haul. Thank you for your support and I look forward to meeting many of you as we start this journey together.” 

- Carrie Fogleman, Director, Energy Efficiency Programs

“The EnergyRight for Business & Industry team is focused on making our programs easy to engage with and ensuring that you, our LPC partners, can maximize their value for your customers. In addition to getting a new cohort of School Uplift participants onboarded and increasing our incentives offerings to drive participation, we’re hoping to work closely with you all to recruit more participants in the Strategic Energy Management program and promote our free Energy Assessment offer for >5 MW energy users. We are also focused on opportunities at the federal level to drive more funding into the Valley that can enable businesses of all sizes to become more sustainable.”

- Ruby Mathai, Senior Manager, EnergyRight for Business and Industry

“The EnergyRight Residential team is looking at ways to enhance our programs to meet changing market forces and introducing new energy efficiency measures soon. We’re also making our Regions financing easier to administer and looking at more ways to promote the DIY Home Energy Assessment as an easy tool to engage residential customers and make them more energy savvy. As we look to the future, our focus will be on partnering with you to bring more value and bringing Inflation Reduction Act rebates and other federal funds to the Tennessee Valley to boost existing incentives to achieve even greater energy efficiency goals.”

– Frank Rapley, Senior Manager, EnergyRight for Residential

“The Demand Response (DR) team is finishing out the year in go-go-go mode! Over the next few months, we’ll be rolling out new and updated programs that will improve system capacity by growing existing DR participation and tapping into new markets. These programs help keep rates low, provide grid reliability, and offer financial credits to participants. Thank you all for providing valuable feedback as we worked to develop program features that are more flexible and rewarding for both TVA and DR participants.”

– Claire Moore, Manager, Demand Response

On January 10, 2024, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. notified TVA of its intent to shut down their Consumer Lending Division and eliminate the EnergyRight Off-Bill Financing Program, effective June 19, 2024. Vanderbilt will continue to accept loan applications through June 19, 2024; any approved applications will continue to be processed through the 90-day approval period. After that date, no new loan applications will be accepted for Off-Bill loans.

Please contact your ESC for any questions and to learn more about new financing options available in the coming months.

As tax season approaches, encourage your customers to make their tax refund work for them with energy efficiency projects and rebates! While larger energy efficiency projects can sometimes be out of reach for low and middle-income customers, leveraging tax refunds to invest in an upgraded HVAC, water heater and attic insulation enables them to use their funds in a way that will save them money in the long run - and rebates from their local power company and TVA EnergyRight can help!

If your customers aren't sure where to start, encourage them to take the DIY Home Energy Assessment and learn about their home’s unique energy efficiency improvement areas. They can then find a contractor from the Quality Contractor Network to get the work started.

Decatur Utilities has worked hard to spread the word about our DIY Home Energy Assessment! While sharing info about the DIY Home Energy Assessment at an employee meeting, many employees were challenged to take the assessment and better understand their energy usage. 

“The Home Energy Assessment was really eye-opening for me,” said Rebecca Sheets, Executive Assistant at Decatur Utilities. “We recently purchased our home in October, so we’ve been focusing on unpacking, painting, and buying furniture, not assessing our energy efficiency. One major takeaway for me was the air sealing around windows, doors and even outlets. After completing the assessment, I discovered we had a few wall outlets that were rather drafty. Much to my surprise, we received outlet insulation pads in the energy savings kit we received in the mail!  Those have made a significant difference in the drafts in our outlets.”

According to Debra Curtis, energy analyst for Decatur Utilities, nearly half of their employees have taken the home energy assessment. 

"Decatur Utilities challenging employees to complete the assessment is helpful for both the employees and our customers," Sheets continued. "Not only is it a great resource on a personal level within our own homes as employees, but a helpful resource for our customers to better understand energy savings and possibly cut back on their monthly bill. Having personally taken the assessment, I’m more confident in promoting it to our customers and the energy savings kit encourages more people to complete it!"

Since challenging their employees, Decatur Utilities has also shared it with their community. At a home and garden show, they had a booth and encouraged folks to take the DIY Home Energy Assessment online. Beyond sharing the opportunity with their community, Curtis said that the "next step is to get it in front of city employees."

We appreciate Decatur's partnership with us to make a difference in the Tennessee Valley.

We’re excited to invite you to TVA’s 2024 Industrial Summit. This year’s theme is Powering Progress Together: Solutions for a Sustainable Tomorrow. This is an invaluable opportunity to bring your industrial customers to join TVA and regional peers to discuss best practices, resources and partnerships to help them reach their energy goals.

Hear from the experts on the following topics:

We hope you will attend and invite your industrial customers to participate in this event. The 2024 TVA Industrial Summit invitation is on the Marketing Hub.

We were honored to join MLGW for a celebration event at the Journey Coleman School in February, where they are making a real difference through our School Uplift grant! 

The school was the recipient of a $410,000 Building Energy Upgrade Grant during the 2022-2023 School Uplift cohort. Through School Uplift, Journey Coleman School has reduced its energy usage by 8% annually, which equates to $16,627 in energy cost savings and 51,790 pounds of CO2 reduction. That annual savings will be multiplied through the energy upgrades made with the grant funds. 

Schools shouldn't have to choose between educational programs and facility upgrades - that's why we're committed to partnering with LPCs to help them create healthier learning environments and save on energy costs.

Ready to help schools in your area save? Registration for the 2024-2025 School Uplift cohort is extended through March 31st, so there is still time to encourage schools in your area to apply for this free energy-saving program.

Any publicly funded K-12 school that has not previously completed School Uplift is eligible for enrollment. Participating schools can expect to benefit from the program with an average of $13,000 in annual energy savings, engagement of the entire school in energy efficiency practices, and an award of a $10,000 to $25,000 Learning Environment Grant upon completion of the program. Participating schools in underserved communities are also eligible to apply for a $200,000 Building Energy Upgrade Grant. 

When MTE began constructing a new facility in Murfreesboro, its design plan leveraged the benefits of TVA EnergyRight's Business and Industry incentives by paying particular attention to energy efficiency and sustainable options.

“MTE chose energy-efficient HVAC systems for our new building because of our commitment to sustainability and innovation,” MTE Vice President of Member Services and Community Relations Robert White said. “We believe in investing in the future, and this approach aligns with our vision to promote safe, reliable and affordable power for our members.”

MTE received approximately $9,000 in incentives and installed more than 135 tons of energy-efficient cooling capacity. MTE installed occupancy sensors and temperature setback controls to enhance energy-saving opportunities further. 

The Fast Charge Network continues to expand as we recently welcomed Glasgow EPB and Smithville Electric into the Fast Charge Network family. We now have sites operational in AL, GA, KY, MS and TN!

However, there are still gaps we need your help to fill. If your LPC has an interstate or major highway in your service area, please consider participating in the Fast Charge Network.

To view the Fast Charge Network gaps in the Tennessee Valley, click the button below.

Fort Payne, AL, became the home to the very first EV fast charging site in TVA’s regional Fast Charge Network in 2022. Since then, 52 chargers have been installed across our seven-state region. 

“We moved quickly to participate in this program because we want to make it easy for people to choose EVs so our community can enjoy the environmental and economic benefits of electric transportation,” said Fort Payne Improvement Authority general manager, Mike Shirey. “The support from TVA and grant funding from ADECA made it possible to add charging stations without affecting our customers’ bills.”

Charging your EV on Fort Payne’s thriving Main Street is a great way to step back in time and experience a slice of small-town USA while plugging into the future. While you charge up, be sure to top up on coffee at one of the local coffee shops, grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant, visit a local museum or splurge on something for a loved one at one of the many stores on Main Street.

“Our original intention was to draw attention to our downtown area,” Shire added. “We have definitely done that. We wanted to introduce people to Fort Payne so they could see what we’re so proud of.”

To be a part of the growing EV community, visit EnergyRight.com/ev/resources/. 

We want to remind LPCs of our ongoing EV blog series that answers customer questions with well-researched content, useful tools and resources. Since its launch in September, the blog has attracted over 40,000 readers!

These EV consumer awareness resources help position both TVA and LPCs as trusted sources of unbiased EV information that can help Valley drivers make informed decisions about how electric transportation fits into their lives.

All LPCs are encouraged to share this content with their communities through co-brandable marketing assets available on the Marketing Hub.

We would like to thank our cobranding champions of the quarter for their dedication to partnering with us and spreading the word about our programs! 

Decatur Utilities, Cookeville Electric Department and Upper Cumberland Electric Corporation have made a difference in their communities by spreading the word about DIY Home Energy Assessments and EnergyRight programs at local Home and Garden shows. 

Their dedication to copromoting makes it possible for us to reach our energy efficiency goals and reduce our carbon footprint across the Tennessee Valley. 

The heat of summer is approaching! Now is the time to encourage your customers to beat the summer heat and make energy-efficient upgrades to their HVAC with rebates. 

Marketing Match is the perfect opportunity to amplify your advertising efforts to your customers. With Marketing Match, TVA will match funds for approved cobranded advertising up to $3,000 per fiscal year per LPC. Whether you're interested in paid social, digital ads, newspaper ads, radio spots or outdoor signage, our Marketing Match program allows you to co-promote EnergyRight programs using the most effective formats and channels to reach your unique communities.

If you are interested in participating, please reach out to your Energy Services Consultant, or send an email to Madi Reinschmidt (mpreinschmidt@tva.gov). 

Promote valuable TVA EnergyRight programs to your community with co-brandable marketing assets, available on the TVA EnergyRight Marketing Hub. Check out a few of our latest additions below. 

EV Rates and Policies One-Pager

TVA Industrial Summit 2024 One-Pager

EV Connectivity One-Pager

DIY Home Energy Assessment Survey - Spanish

Reading and continuous improvement are important to us at EnergyRight. Below are some recent book recommendations from members of our staff! 

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - This book is about a woman in the early 1920s Dust Bowl struggling to survive with her family. The heroine, Elsa, faces the hardest conditions - environmental catastrophe, economic hardship and even discrimination as a migrant farm worker struggling to survive. Through crippling fear, she finds an incredible fierce inner strength. It's a great story of love, courage and sacrifice with some gritty realism with fascinating characters along her incredible journey.

-Recommended by Elizabeth Moore, Manager, EnergyRight for Residential

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - This book is about the true story of Olympian distance runner and WW2 bombardier Louis Zamperini. He had a phenomenal outlook on life that carried him through being lost at sea, in POW camps and a struggle with alcoholism. He overcame his challenges and lived a full life. Great book!

-Recommended by Clay Hoover, Senior Program Manager, EnergyRight for Business and Industry                                                       

The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni - This book helps teams concentrate on organizational health. About two years ago, our team underwent a leadership transition and team reorganization, and the leadership team read this book together. This helped positively shape the culture and health of my team, and I’ve recently been reviewing a few of the strategies once again. At a high level, these strategies include building a cohesive leadership group and then creating, communicating and reinforcing clarity to everyone on the team.  That’s important as we are striving toward new and very challenging program goals. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to build a higher-performing team where employees can benefit from clear, concise and well-communicated objectives.

-Recommended by Jason Snyder, Manager, EnergyRight for Business and Industry

The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy by Charles Morris - This book is about the robber barons of the late 1800s and early 1900s. They had a profound impact on the industrialization of the world, but all of the change they pushed for was more for their own personal glory and financial gain. Our mission at TVA is seeking to change our region solely for the good of the people we serve. It is a stark contrast in business models!

-Recommended by Ray Knotts, Director, Energy Services and Demand Management