Green Power Switch News
Issue No. 1
The Switch Is On

April 22, 2001—Earth Day, and the start of Green Power Switch’s second year.

In its first year, more than 3,000 Valley consumers signed on to this renewable energy option developed through a unique collaboration between the Tennessee Valley Authority, distributors of TVA power, and the environmental community.

The Southeastern United States’ first commercial wind turbines, atop Buffalo Mountain in Anderson County, Tennessee. The 290-foot tall generators can begin producing power with only 10 mph of wind.

We’ve learned a lot this year. We’ve learned that people who sign up for Green Power Switch care deeply about the world they inhabit and want to know more about Green Power Switch. For that reason, we created Green Power Switch News to keep you informed about the program’s activities, progress, and challenges.

There is progress, especially in participation. We expected participants to sign up for 9,200 blocks of Green Power Switch the first year. They signed up for more than 10,500. In fact, right now demand for Green Power Switch is greater than the supply, so the Green Power Switch team has developed a generation plan to erase the deficit and provide for continued growth.

The first goal is to complete the landfill gas generation facility this spring. This project was delayed, causing the production deficit. Once the facility comes on line, we can begin reducing the deficit.

The next goal is to seek ways to add more wind power to the nearly two megawatts of capacity already operating for Green Power Switch. TVA is looking for ways to add as much as 10 times the capacity of the Green Power Switch wind generators in operation today on Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge.

Finally, we plan to continue offering Green Power Switch through the 12 distributors of TVA power that participated in the market test and to add new distributors as supply allows. Looking back over the past year, the program exceeded many expectations. The Green Power Switch team is committed to continuing to provide a Green Power Switch option worthy of your financial investment and continued public support. If you have any questions, contact us at greenpowerswitch@tva.com, or call 615-232-6609.

Gary Harris, Chairman
Green Power Switch Steering Committee
Green Power Switch Program Manager
TVA, HRT 11D, P. O. Box 292409
Nashville, TN 37229-2409

Green Power Switch News is interested in knowing what you’d like to read in future issues of our quarterly newsletter. Please write us at the address above or send an e-mail message to greenpowerswitch@tva.com. We will be happy to notify you by e-mail when future issues are published at this site. Thanks for your help and your interest!

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