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“TVA’s
Comprehensive Services is valuable to North Georgia EMC because
we’re able to use TVA engineers to work with our large industries.
This year, Comprehensive Services did the lighting design for
seven ball fields, allowing us to provide the design without charging
the county one penny.”
—Jim
Abney (right), Manager
of Marketing and Economic Development, North Georgia Electric
Membership Corporation, Dalton, Ga.,
with Mark Fletcher, County Commissioner, Catoosa County, Ga.,
District 1
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TVA is in business
not to make money, but to make a difference; not to produce profits,
but to work for the public good.
The relationship
between TVA, as a public enterprise, and its customers goes far beyond
that of a private utility. Electricity is such a fundamental part of
everyday life that TVA’s success in producing and transmitting
power efficiently, without federal appropriations, translates directly
into prosperity and jobs.
Competitive
Rates
The price
of electricity can be a significant cost for business and industry,
and Valley customers enjoy some of the most competitive power rates
in the nation.
The advantage of
lower rates gives TVA and distributors of TVA power an important tool
for fostering new investment in the Tennessee Valley.
Distributor
Partnerships
In addition
to providing power at competitive prices, TVA works closely with local
power distributors and community leaders to develop innovative ways
to attract quality investments.
Since 1995 TVA
has offered Valley businesses and industries $90 million in economic
development loans. These loans and other technical and economic development
services leveraged an additional $3.1 billion in capital investment,
helping create and retain more than 222,000 jobs.
TVA’s Comprehensive
Services Program is one such partnership that makes TVA’s engineering
and technical assistance available to current or potential customers
through its distributors.
When North Georgia
Electric Membership Corporation in Dalton, Georgia, asked TVA to evaluate
electricity use at a plant in Lafayette at risk of closure, TVA engineers
found ways the plant could reduce its electricity bill by $237,000 a
year, allowing the plant to stay open and even plan for expansion.
North Georgia EMC
also made TVA’s engineering expertise part of its bid for a new
Dalton-area supermarket. The distributor proposed installing and maintaining
a TVA-designed lighting system for the grocer’s parking lot. The
proposal helped North Georgia EMC win a new customer and saved the grocery
chain $40,000 in construction costs.
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“The
Red Hills Power Project will not only create 170 permanent jobs
for the power plant and mining operations, it has already helped
boost one town’s sales tax revenues 30% higher than last
year’s and will help spur further economic growth in the
area.”
—Randy
Ransdell, Director,
Plant Manager, Red Hills Power Plant, Choctaw County, Miss.
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In Middleton, Tennessee,
the Thyssen Dover Elevator Company was faced with the decision on where
to consolidate its manufacturing operations. Thyssen Dover asked Tippah
Electric Power Association to analyze the power needs associated with
the expansion and consolidation of their operations in Middleton. In
turn, Tippah EPA called on TVA’s Comprehensive Services, which
assisted on a redesign and renovation of the existing building and grounds,
including a landscape design and an outdoor lighting plan.
Throughout the
Valley, TVA’s Site Selector program is an information partnership
with eight regional industrial development associations that helps relocating
businesses and industries find sites that best fit their needs. Site
Selector software offers detailed data on prospective sites and navigable
3-D computer images of available buildings. It also provides statistics
for the surrounding county, including such information as unemployment
figures and transportation options.
Last fall TVA joined
distributors and business and community leaders at groundbreaking ceremonies
for a new 440-megawatt power-production facility—the Red Hills
Power Project in northeast Mississippi. The power plant is owned by
Tractebel Power Inc. and will be operated by Choctaw Generation, a subsidiary
of Tractebel Power. The power plant will use clean-coal technology to
burn lignite coal mined near the plant. The mine is a joint venture
between Phillips Coal Company and North American Coal Company. TVA has
contracted with Choctaw to buy the plant’s output, with production
scheduled to begin in late 2000.
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