TVA - Green Power Providers

Summary

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and participating power distributors of TVA power offer a performance-based incentive program to homeowners and businesses for the installation of renewable generation systems from the following qualifying resources: PV, wind, hydropower, and biomass. The long term Green Power Providers program replaces the Generation Partners* pilot program. The energy generated from these renewable generation systems will count towards TVA's green power pricing program, Green Power Switch.

The Green Power Providers program contract term is 20 years. Generation credit will be paid at the following flat rates for the entirety of the 20-year contract:

•Residential/GSA-1 customers with system sizes 500W - 10kW: 9¢/kWh

•Residential/GSA-1 customers with system sizes > 10kW: 7.5¢/kWh

•Non GSA-1 commercial customers: 7.5¢/kWh 

Participation in the Generation Power Providers program is subject to annual limits imposed by TVA and based upon available budget, the value of renewable technologies to TVA and renewable energy market conditions. Eligible Systems must not have previously generated renewable energy for sale to TVA prior to October 1, 2012, unless the system was part of the Generation Partners pilot. No Premium Rate will be available in the 2018 Calendar Year.

TVA will retain all rights to all renewable energy credits and any other environmental attributes provided by system. Distributors will use the Distributor Billing Option to administer any Generation Credits due to Participants. With the Distributor Billing Option, a generation credit is issued by the local power company on the monthly power bill for the home or business where the generation system is located. If a qualifying system produces more electricity than the customer consumes, payment for any excess credits will be issued either monthly or annually, at the discretion of the power company. 

Qualifying systems will have a minimum total nameplate generation capacity (DC) of 500 watts (W) and a maximum of 50 kilowatts (kW). Systems over 50kW may qualify to participate in TVA’s Mid-Sized Renewable Standard Offer program (link to DSIRE summary). Systems greater than 10 kilowatts in size will be subject to a load requirement. A “load requirement” simply means that the system’s maximum capacity will be limited so that it should not generate more than 100% of the energy usage or consumption at the home or business. TVA will conduct annual program evaluations to set annual MW limits to the program. These limits will be made available on the Generation Power Providers web site. A limit of 10 MW limit will be split equally between residential/GSA-1 and non-GSA-1 commercial customers.

Installations must comply with local codes and adhere to guidelines established by the program. All equipment must be in compliance with environmental regulations and national standards, certified by a licensed electrician, and meet all applicable codes. Systems must be dual-metered, have an external disconnect switch, be grid-tied, and be validated under an interconnection agreement.

For the 2018 Calendar Year, the Generation Credit rate is applicable to Requests initiated January 31, 2018 through December 17, 2018. Updated Generation Credits are annually published in the Green Power Providers Guidelines.