TVA Director Bill Baxter Challenges Conference Participants to Cut Solar Energy Costs
June 18, 2002
RENO, Nev. — The cost of solar energy must come down before it can compete as a mainstream energy source, TVA Director Bill Baxter told participants in the 2002 National Solar Energy Conference.
Participating in a panel discussion this week at the 31st annual conference, Baxter challenged fellow members of the American Solar Energy Society to focus on reducing the cost of solar energy so that it will remain a viable alternative energy source along with other renewables such as wind and biogas.
“The business case for solar energy must get better,” Baxter said. “Certainly at some point for it to become a mainstream energy source, it has to be competitive in the marketplace without government subsidy.”
The costs of producing electric power from wind, biogas, and other renewable energy sources are dropping faster than solar, Baxter pointed out. As a result, utilities with green power programs such as TVA will turn toward those generation sources.
TVA currently uses power from 12 solar generating sites, a wind park, and two methane gas sources to generate renewable energy for the Green Power Switch program. Last year, customers purchased approximately 17.6 million kilowatt-hours of green power, with solar accounting for 1.4 percent of that total.
“Solar is a promising renewable energy technology, and I have had a personal interest in it for many years,” said Baxter, a longtime member of the solar society. “However, proponents of solar energy must ask, At what point does solar energy have to stand on its own two feet in the marketplace?”
The six-day conference, which ends Thursday, June 20, focuses on advancements in solar energy technology and provides a forum for discussing the latest research developments and exchanging information on solar technologies.
Baxter discussed the success of the Green Power Switch program developed by TVA and distributors of TVA power, its ranking in the top 10 nationally, and its objective of giving customers a choice by paying more on their monthly power bills for renewable energy.
He said TVA is considering an expansion of its green power generation sources and is exploring the concept of partnering with companies interested in building generating facilities and selling the power to TVA. “We are looking at ways we can grow our green power program without making such large capital expenditures,” Baxter said.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power producer, and its power system is self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve 8.3 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
Media Contact:
John Moulton, Knoxville (865-632-8048) or TVA News Bureau, Knoxville (865-632-6000)
