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Cooper: TVA should allow co-ops to refund ratepayers
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper called on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors Monday to alter a “magic little sentence” and allow electric cooperative members to return profits to customers.
Electric co-ops are customer-owned power companies created in the 1930s. There are about 21 in Tennessee and about 29 more in the Tennessee valley. Nashville Electric Service is not a cooperative.
Cooper (D-Nashville) sent a letter Monday to all seven sitting members of the TVA board asking them to allow the 50 electric cooperatives in the Tennessee valley distributing TVA power to give their ratepayers a refund of their excess revenues.
“Our 50 co-ops in the Tennessee valley are just about the only co-ops in America that don’t pay their customers a refund,” Cooper said. “There are 880 other co-ops in America that do pay their customers a refund. Well why are ours different? Because of one sentence in a 1935 TVA power contract.”
That 1935 contract states that when excess revenues occur, rates should be lowered from “time to time.” But Cooper says that rarely happens and that co-op members deserve refunds because it’s “their money.”
“Once people know what they own, when co-ops can afford it, shouldn’t they get a refund?” Cooper said. “Because this is the people’s own money. They should get a little of their own money back when co-ops can afford it.”
The TVA board’s next meeting is in August.
From the co-ops’ perspective, Cooper’s argument is a “technicality” because TVA co-ops return money to ratepayers through lower rates, said Tom Purkey, executive vice president of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association.
“We do give the monies back through lower rates,” Purkey said.
For example, Purkey said the average residential rate for electric co-op ratepayers within the TVA is 8.15-cents per kilowatt hour compared to 9.46-cents per kilowatt hour on average for the nation’s other about 900 co-ops.
Besides lowering rates, Purkey added that other excess revenues go toward expanded infrastructure such as more power lines.
Last month during a Congressional committee hearing, a national rural electric co-op official claimed Cooper was under FBI investigation for inappropriately accessing a Web site only open to co-op members.
Cooper said he received the access information from a co-op “whistleblower” and denied Monday that he was under investigation from the FBI, saying he had not been contacted.
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We are fortunate to have Jim Cooper in Washington fighting for our rights. Purkey's comment about "giving monies back through lower rates" compared to national averages overlooks the likely possibility that the coops in the TVA area buy at lower rates to start with. The fact is they have excess cash they are sitting on that belongs to the members that should be returned when possible. This would have a lot bigger impact on family budgets than McCain's hairbrained idea of lowering the gasoline tax during the summer.Jim Cooper is smart and fearless in his determination to bring this coops under control.....seems they don't really have any controls today, to our detriment. This talk of an FBI investigation is a smokescreen to deflect the real issue at hand......most coop boards are inept, resulting in inefficient operations and lack of attention to the members
We are fortunate to have Jim Cooper in Washington fighting for our rights. Purkey's comment about "giving monies back through lower rates" compared to national averages overlooks the likely possibility that the coops in the TVA area buy at lower rates to start with. The fact is they have excess cash they are sitting on that belongs to the members that should be returned when possible. This would have a lot bigger impact on family budgets than McCain's hairbrained idea of lowering the gasoline tax during the summer.Jim Cooper is smart and fearless in his determination to bring this coops under control.....seems they don't really have any controls today, to our detriment. This talk of an FBI investigation is a smokescreen to deflect the real issue at hand......most coop boards are inept, resulting in inefficient operations and lack of attention to the members
TVA shutting down Generation Partners immediately following an 11 million dollar civil penalty and a billion dollar expenditure on the coal ash disaster on top of a rate increase for fuel costs shows TVA lack of planning and leadership in getting to clean energy. TVA has broken faith with everyone in the Valley by the abrupt suspension of the Generation Partners.
I put almost $40,000 into solar electric -- money TVA did have to spend for generation will never spend for coal. Of course the fuel -- sunshine -- is free. My 6 kW roof array makes electricity when TVA needs it most -- the summer peak of air conditioning.
The TVA Board is being asked to build a multibillion dollar old design nuclear plant at Bellefont AL. TVA is spending millions to keep 40 year old and older coal power plants operating and to add air pollution scrubbers. Meanwhile mountains are forever destroyed to provide the coal or lower sulfur coal is hauled clear across the country from Wyoming.
TVA says the money is gone because too many businesses, investors, and homeowners want to spend their own money to produce clean energy. We the people have shown we know the valley is solar rich and are willing to help turn our sunshine into kilowatts at the plug and across the grid. Now TVA is caught short because they claimed solar power would not work in the Valley.
Certainly the 12 cents per kilowatt hour that Generation Partners pays is trivial compared to the avoided cost of building billion dollar nuclear plants or the multimillion required to fuel and keep operation TVAs World War 2 era coal plants. TVA has bought 14 megawatts of wind power from the Midwest to be delivered in the next couple of years. Why does TVA lack equal interest in valley solar electricity and keep investing in jobs and green power right here at home?
Large solar arrays used up some of the GP kWH allocation. But if someone figures out it is better to put in a large solar system rather than keep money in a CD at 2% return then TVA should rejoice. TVA buys summer peak power outside the valley and from privately owned natural gas fired plant in the valley for as much as 30 cents per kWH so summer solar from my house at 12 cents is a bargain.
TVA has, with no notice, effectively shut down solar PV businesses. TVA is shaking the confidence of those who planned to invest in solar power for their homes and business. Creating not destroying jobs, especially clean energy jobs, is TVA’s mandate and they are doing the opposite.
TVA should immediately restore the GP program and welcome all comers to clean energy investment.