BTES and TVA: Partners for the Future

By Clayton Dowell, CEO

You may not think much about where your electricity comes from. As a community-owned power provider, we are focused on providing safe, reliable service while striving to keep costs as low as possible. We do not have “stockholders,” but we do have “stakeholders,” and those are you, our customers.

When you flip a switch, the light comes on. When you need to do chores, the vacuum, washing machine, or dishwasher powers right up. When your kids need to do homework, their laptops are charged and ready. When you want to decompress after a long day, your TV comes on with the click of a button. And when your head hits the pillow, your thermostat keeps your home at just the right temperature all night, letting you rest comfortably.

All of this is thanks to electricity, delivered safely and reliably by BTES and our employees. We’re here every day, powering every aspect of your life – at home, at work, and at play – rain or shine. That’s not just true here in Bristol, but also in communities across the Tennessee Valley where community-owned power providers partner with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

TVA generates and transmits electricity for the 153 local power providers in our region, and we distribute it to customers like you. This is a public power model that is unique to our nation – a way of doing business that has given our region a competitive advantage for more than 90 years.

In fact, before TVA was formed, many communities in our region didn’t have access to electricity. Private utilities refused to serve them, believing there wasn’t enough money to be made in largely rural areas scattered with small towns. The founding of TVA spread electrification across our region, and with it came new industries, new jobs, and a newfound prosperity for the Tennessee Valley and its people.

Today, TVA remains as committed as ever to serving the 10 million people in the Tennessee Valley. BTES relies on TVA, so we can provide you with the electric services you need. That means we all have a vested interest in making sure TVA’s future is strong and its leaders remain committed to providing reliable, resilient electricity while keeping costs as low as possible for you. This is what drives our local economies and supports our well-being and quality of life. After all, here in the Tennessee Valley, decisions about how our power companies operate are made by people who live, work, and serve in our region, not by corporations. It’s our customers and others across our region, not shareholders, who come first. We take our responsibility to our community seriously and we are dedicated to making our hometown thrive by reinvesting revenue from the sale of electricity back into our power system and through additional initiatives that support our community.

That’s the Tennessee Valley public power way. That’s our way. And it’s made possible thanks to TVA.

I encourage you to learn more by visiting http://tva.com/energy/public-power-partnerships and watching the Energy 101 video.