Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
AbbreviationSACE
Formation1985 (1985)
HeadquartersKnoxville, Tennessee
Board President
E. Leon Jacobs, Jr.
Executive Director
Stephen A. Smith
E. Leon Jacobs, Jr.; Patricia San Pedro; Enid Sisskin, PhD; John Noel; Gary A. Davis; Bob Freeman; Pearl Walker
Websitehttps://cleanenergy.org/
Formerly called
Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition
Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) is a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes the use of sustainable energy in the southeastern United States.[1] SACE’s primary focus states are Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

History

Beginning in 1979, an informal group of citizens began to question the actions of the Tennessee Valley Authority.[2] By 1985, this had become a formal coalition, and the Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition (TVEC) was founded.[3] It later evolved to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).[4] TVEC championed ratepayer protections and tracked the environmental and energy policies of the Tennessee Valley Authority.[5][6] By the late 1980s, the informal group had started to become a full-time operation,[7][8][9] and was formally consulted on a number of major TVA initiatives in the late 1980s onwards.[10] This included the management and financing of nuclear power in Tennessee, including the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.[11] From the mid-1980s onwards, journalists would frequently use TVEC financial analysis to draw summaries on how TVA policies would likely affect the local energy market and taxpayers.[12]

In 1992, TVEC's name changed to Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition (TVERC). In 1993, Stephen A. Smith, SACE's current executive director, became the executive director of TVERC after serving on the board.[13]

Solar panels in Tennessee

In 1999, TVERC was renamed the Southern Alliance For Clean Energy (SACE) as the organization expanded its focus beyond the TVA service area to encompass clean energy efforts with other utility providers in Florida and South Carolina. In 2001, SACE merged with Georgians For Clean Energy, thereby expanding its influence in the Southeast to also include Georgia.[4] The ex-TVA Chairman S. David Freeman joined the SACE Board of Advisors in 2020.[14]

SACE's programs have expanded to address multiple issues relating to energy and the environment, such as increasing renewable energy deployment with a focus on solar power programs, the use of electric transportation, reducing reliance on fossil fuel power stations, and addressing climate change.[15]

More recently, SACE Executive Director Stephen A. Smith was quoted in the New York Times stating that the Tennessee Valley Authority needed to shift to clean power more quickly, and that a lack of pressure from Washington wasn't helping the situation.[16]

Reducing Reliance on Fossil Fuels

SACE has regularly campaigned for the phasing out of fossil fuel power plants. Following completion of TVA's 1995 IRP, TVERC shifted its focus to research on air pollution and efforts to clean up or retire coal-fired power plants.[13] In 1997, TVERC formed the Tennessee Clean Air Task Force.[17]

In the early 2000s, SACE participated in national campaigns addressing emissions and pollution from coal-fired power plants, including the Clear the Air Campaign.[18] In 2000, SACE, as part of the Clean Air Task Force, commissioned a study, Out of Sight: Haze in our National Parks, claiming that cleaner air in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park could boost the local tourism-driven economy by up to $300 million.[19] In 2003, SACE joined the Clean Air Task Force’s National Clean Up Diesel Campaign.[20]

Several environmental incidents during this period informed the organization’s advocacy. The 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill in Tennessee, the largest industrial spill in U.S. history, drew national attention to coal ash disposal and regulation.[21] Following the spill, Dr. Stephen Smith was asked to provide testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees TVA. at its January 8, 2009, hearing on the coal ash disaster. In his testimony, Smith called for greater regulation of coal ash, increased oversight of TVA’s coal ash impoundments, and for TVA to restart public Integrated Resource Planning in an effort to have TVA retire its fleet of aging coal-fired power plants.[22]

SACE continues to advocate against the Tennessee Valley Authority's over-reliance on coal power.[23] In the early 2020s, both short- and long-term energy policy plans suggested the state of Tennessee would begin to reduce its reliance on coal.[24] Part of these plans were for additional gas power stations, but SACE questioned publicly both the logic and reasoning for the use of methane gas as a fuel source.[25] SACE had campaigned for two coal power plants in Tennessee to be replaced by clean energy initiatives, but TVA instead opted for methane gas. In 2026, TVA backtracked on their plans to close the two coal power plants.[26]

Renewable Energy advocacy

In 1998, TVERC engaged with TVA to launch the Green Power Switch program, giving TVA ratepayers the option to support wind, solar, and biogas renewable resources.[27][28] Following the launch of TVA’s Green Power Switch program,[29] SACE subsequently supported the development of voluntary green power pricing programs across the Southeast.[30] In North Carolina, the nonprofit NC GreenPower launched in 2003 with participation from environmental and renewable energy advocates, including SACE.[31] In 2003, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved Georgia Power's Green Energy Pricing Program, which was developed with input from SACE and other environmental groups.[32] In Florida, Florida Power & Light launched its Sunshine Energy program in 2004. Smith stated that the utility had "done more in a year than any other Southeastern utility" to support renewable energy development and encouraged further expansion of clean energy investments.[33]

In 2004, SACE co-founded the Tennessee Wind Working Group in partnership with TVA and the State of Tennessee to promote wind energy development and education in the region.[34]

SACE has also supported solar energy policy initiatives. In 2014, the organization helped organize the Solar Uprising rally at the Florida State Capitol, advocating for expanded solar energy policies in the state.[35] The following year, the SACE Action Fund, the organization's affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, co-founded Floridians for Solar Choice, a coalition that supported policies to expand customer access to solar energy.[36] SACE collaborated with activists including Debbie Dooley on solar-related causes in Florida and other states.[37] In 2016, the SACE Action Fund took positions on several Florida ballot initiatives affecting renewable energy markets, including Florida Amendment 1.[38][39] SACE argues that homeowners with rooftop solar should continue to receive fair compensation for electricity generated by domestic solar panels, which is then exported to the grid.[40]

In a collaboration with Vote Solar and Sierra Club, SACE announced it was filing a lawsuit against the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The lawsuit challenges the Commission chairman's attempt stop its 2026 solar procurement process.[41]

References

  1. ↑ "Home". cleanenergy.org.
  2. ↑ Moore, Pat (January 30, 1986). "TVEC Serves as TVA Watchdog". The Knoxville Journal.
  3. ↑ Simmons, Laura (October 14, 1984). "TVA Disputes Claim on Nuke Plan Costs". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  4. 1 2 "SACE - About Us - Mission & History". 2004-05-22. Archived from the original on 2004-05-22. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  5. ↑ "Our Documents - Tennessee Valley Authority Act (1933)". www.ourdocuments.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  6. ↑ "Our History". TVA.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  7. ↑ Simmons, Laura (September 20, 1987). "Energy Coalition studies issues, tries to speak up for public". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  8. ↑ Wann, Libby (October 15, 1988). "Group says coal plant cheaper than restarting Browns Ferry". The Chattanooga Times.
  9. ↑ Simmons, Laura (May 5, 1986). "Conservation Head, 2 others endorsed for TVA post". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  10. ↑ Willard, Patrick (July 25, 1987). "Energy Group Blasts TVA plan". The Knoxville Journal.
  11. ↑ Willard, Patrick (November 9, 1987). "TVA Reactors Inefficient". The Knoxville Journal.
  12. ↑ Ferrar, Rebecca (May 5, 1988). "TVA urged to scrap nuke plant, mothball reactors at 2 others". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  13. 1 2 "Ulla-Britt Reeves, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy". Grist. 2000-11-14. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  14. ↑ Schwartz, John (May 10, 2020). "S. David Freeman, 94, Tireless Advocate for Clean Energy, Dies". New York Times.
  15. ↑ Southern Alliance for Clean Energy#cite note-7
  16. ↑ "The Agency That Brought Appalachia Electricity Must Focus on the Climate". New York Times. January 27, 2020.
  17. ↑ "TVERC - TN Clean Air Task Force Doc 1998". Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  18. ↑ Borenstein, Seth (May 31, 2002). "Environmental groups plan to sue EPA over new smog standards The Tennessean". The Tennessean.
  19. ↑ "Out of Sight: Haze in our National Parks". Clean Air Taskforce. September 1, 2000.
  20. ↑ "OUT OF SIGHT: Haze in our National Parks" (PDF). National Park Service.
  21. ↑ "Coal's other dark side: Toxic ash that can poison water and people". National Geographic.
  22. ↑ Shogren, Elizabeth (January 8, 2009). "Senate Holds Hearing On Tenn. Coal Ash Spill". NPR.
  23. ↑ Eggers, Caroline (November 24, 2024). "TVA 2020 v. 2030: Why the nation's largest public utility is not getting cleaner".
  24. ↑ Kunzig, Robert (July 25, 2023). "A Controversial Model for America's Climate Future". The Atlantic.
  25. ↑ Tabor, Nick (September 9, 2024). "The TVA helped electrify the South — but now its plans are sparking backlash". Washington Post.
  26. ↑ Mattise, Jonathan (February 10, 2026). "US's largest public utility says it now doesn't want to close two coal-fired plants". AP News.
  27. ↑ "TVA in the 21st Century » Metro Pulse". 2011-06-11. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  28. ↑ "Sustainability Report 2020". TVA.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  29. ↑ "TVA History - The 2000s". Tennessee Valley Authority.
  30. ↑ Bonner, Paul (October 1, 2003). "Green power' gets a plug". The Herald-Sun.
  31. ↑ "Our Story". NC Green Power.
  32. ↑ Quinn, Matthew (February 2, 2003). "Option of 'green energy' coming". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  33. ↑ Swartz, Kritsi (February 12, 2005). "FPL to build solar panels thanks to green customers". Palm Beach Post.
  34. ↑ Jones, Bill (March 21, 2009). "Is It Sufficient To Generate Electric Power?". Greeneville Sun.
  35. ↑ Feagins, Karen. "Solar Power Advocates To Rally At Florida State Capitol". WJCT.
  36. ↑ "About SACE Action Fund". Clean Energy Action Fund.
  37. ↑ Penn, Ivan (February 28, 2018). "A Gun-Owning Trump Fan's New Crusade: Clean Energy". NY Times.
  38. ↑ Brown, Taylor Kate (May 28, 2017). "Florida's Amendment 1: A cautionary tale for 2018?". BBC.
  39. ↑ "SACE Action Fund". Ballotpedia.
  40. ↑ "Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric Company fight pro-solar policies". Environment America. July 2, 2021.
  41. ↑ Zhu, Christine (May 12, 2026). "Clean energy groups challenge NC Utilities Commission chair's order to pause solar projects". NC Newsline.
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