Tennessee falls behind other Southeast states on solar power, but KUB shines through

While Tennessee falls behind nearly all other Southeast states on the amount of electricity it produces from solar power, the Knoxville Utilities Board is a solar leader in the state, according to a new report from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

SACE is a Knoxville-based nonprofit that advocates for alternatives to fossil fuels, particularly renewables like solar and wind energy. For its seventh annual "Solar in the Southeast" report, it used data from long-term utility planning documents and from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Almost all of Tennessee's electricity is produced by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public power provider. TVA produces most of its power from carbon-free sources like nuclear, but lags on solar power, which its leaders say lacks reliability.

Though TVA will add more solar to its system by 2027, it will not be enough to place its projected watts per customer above the current Southeast average. That places it on SACE's list of "sunblockers," the name for utilities with lagging solar aspirations.

Meanwhile, KUB leads other major Tennessee power companies like Nashville Electric Service and Memphis Light, Gas and Water on the portion of power it supplies through solar. All three companies buy power from TVA, and the federal utility helped KUB expand solar through its Green Invest program.

"KUB is proud to be a leader in bringing solar to our community," Erin Gill, KUB's vice president of sustainability and government relations, told Knox News via email. "We are committed to continuing to promote sustainability in all facets of KUB’s operations, while supporting and providing programs for our customers to do the same."

KUB plans to build more solar quickly

KUB is on track to have 325 megawatts of solar power online by 2026. That's around 14% of its electric load, Gill said.

The company, which sells power to over 200,000 people in Knox County and surrounding counties, plans to supply up to 5% of its own power from renewables through the TVA Generation Flexibility program.

KUB launched Knoxville's first community solar program in 2023, which lets homeowners, renters or businesses subscribe to support a community solar farm and offset their carbon footprint.

The company's long-term goal is to have 400 megawatts of solar power by 2030.

Tennessee near bottom of Southeast states for solar

Total solar capacity in the Southeast is expected to double in the next three years. Across the region, states had an average of 665 watts of solar per customer in 2023 and are expected to average 1,350 watts of solar per customer in 2027.

Florida leads the Southeast for solar power, with around 9,200 megawatts, according to the report, and is expected to produce 1,716 watts of solar energy per customer in three years, compared to just 645 watts per customer in Tennessee.

Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mississippi also outpace Tennessee. Alabama is last.

Peer utilities outshine TVA in solar ambitions

TVA's large peer utilities in the Southeast have more solar capacity, according to the report:

• Duke Energy: 7,057 MW of solar
• Florida Power and Light: 5,150 MW of solar
• Southern Company: 3,285 MW of solar
• Oglethorpe Power: 1,392 MW of solar
• Dominion Energy: 1,207 MW of solar
• TVA: 1,098 MW of solar

SACE also looked ahead to how solar will grow by 2027, using the metric of watts of solar generation per customer. TVA does not use the metric in its own planning.

TVA owns a single megawatt of solar energy and operates around 1,000 megawatts of solar panels through purchase agreements with other companies, enough to power around 600,000 homes. It has committed to buying over 3,000 megawatts of solar by 2028, when more of its projects with private companies go online.

Transmission lines are a central limitation for TVA adding more solar power, though the utility is embarking on its first comprehensive study for how to invest in its sprawling transmission system.

The utility's long-term goal is to add 10,000 megawatts of solar to its system by 2035, though concerns over reliability of solar remain, particularly in winter months when electricity demand peaks before the sun rises. Solar farms produced just 23% of their total capability in 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Environmental groups and some Tennessee Valley residents have criticized TVA's decision to replace retiring coal plants with 7,000 megawatts of new natural gas plants.

SACE leaders said TVA's next integrated resource plan, which was pushed to next year to plan for extensive new carbon-cutting rules from the Environmental Protection Agency, should dream bigger.

"Each of these big utility plans, each resource plan, is an opportunity to add more solar to the grid, especially if it's paired with something like battery storage," said Heather Pohnan, senior energy policy manager at SACE and author of the solar report.

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.

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