Who Can Participate

Participation in Green Power Providers Is a Tri-Party Agreement Involving:

  1. The participant, a homeowner or business that receives credit or compensation from the local power company for every kilowatt-hour generated from their onsite qualifying renewable generation system;
  2. The local power company, which distributes the power and compensates the participant; and
  3. TVA, which buys the renewable generation from the local power company for its Green Power Switch program, and which owns the renewable generation credits. These credits may help businesses meet environmental legal obligations and are traded in international markets.

System Owner

The generation system may be owned by a fourth party, someone other than the participant, who is paid by the participant for use of the system on-site. If the system owner is not the participant, the owner must also sign the participation agreement.

The participant, but not the system owner, is guaranteed credit for power generation for 20 years. Payment to the owner is negotiated by the owner and the participant separately from the participation agreement.

Developers and Trade Allies

Independent developers and installers of renewable energy generation systems are finding a growing market in the Tennessee Valley, thanks to Green Power Providers.

Participants in the Green Power Providers program are usually the owners of the generation systems. However, in some cases an outside developer may own a system that is located on a participant’s property. In that case the developer and participant sign a separate agreement covering the use and inspection of the system on the participant’s site and the payment from the developer for using the site.

PLEASE NOTE: The participant, not the outside developer, is the one who is paid for the power generation for 20 years. This agreement is separate from the participation agreement signed with the distributor.