‘The future is arriving very quickly’ for MLGW
“The future is arriving very quickly,” MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen said. “It’s important for us to make some decisions long-term about the direction we’re going,” (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian file)
In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Alice asked, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat answered, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Memphis Light, Gas and Water is heeding the Cheshire Cat’s advice, which Doug McGowen, MLGW president and CEO, quoted Wednesday, March 15, at a board meeting as he unveiled a timeline to establish a 20-year plan.
MLGW has dubbed it “MLGW2045: Powering Communities for our Future.”
The utility already has a five-year, $1 billion infrastructure investment plan called the Way Forward Plan, but if Shelby County is to be prepared for a rapidly changing energy market, McGowen said they need to think further ahead.
“The future is arriving very quickly,” McGowen said. “It’s important for us to make some decisions long-term about the direction we’re going,”
Severe weather fueled by climate change is becoming more common, and Memphis felt its impact during a winter storm late last year.
MLGW’s power provider, the Tennessee Valley Authority, had to initiate rolling blackouts for the first time in its 90-year history to keep up with demand and avoid widespread, uncontrolled outages.
Between 2020 and 2022 — after nearly a decade of flat growth — TVA’s demand increased 2.5%. TVA expects a 50% increase by 2050, which it attributes in part to electric vehicles and the electrification of manufacturing.
MLGW will kick off the effort March 17 and host a community meeting in April to “understand how all of the communities that we serve desire to be served.”
McGowen said it’s an aggressive timeline, but they hope to release a long-term plan by the end of 2024.
Four MLGW employees have been tapped to lead the planning effort: Valerie Overton, Frank Fletcher, Chandrika Rosser and Rod Cleek.
That team has already selected consultants Scott Madden and Seven States Power, but they’ll continue to build a team of technical experts.
There are a few questions top of mind for McGowen. What does Shelby County’s electric vehicle future look like? What mix of energy should MLGW deliver, and how? Is MLGW prepared to meet power demand in the future?
“There are a hundred more of those scenarios that we’re going to have to think about,” McGowen said.
Topics
MLGW Doug McGowenKeely Brewer
Keely Brewer is a Report for America corps member covering environmental impacts on communities of color in Memphis. She is working in partnership with the Ag & Water Desk, a sustainable reporting network aimed at telling water and agriculture stories across the Mississippi River Basin.
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