Neighbors Powering What Matters

Community Energy: the benefit of Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative and TVA working together

Community Energy—
In Our Region, Power Means More

Monroe, Blount, and Loudoun Counties in East Tennessee are powered by a public power model—owned by and accountable to the people who live here. So the initiatives we invest in through our power model serve one purpose: helping our communities thrive.

Because we support public power, we all benefit from Community Energy. It’s the progress our model enables — like more job opportunities thanks to thriving and growing communities, outdoor recreation made possible by our protected lands, cleaner energy sources, and much more.

A Partnership of Service

Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative and TVA work together to power not just our homes and businesses, but our potential too — by combining efforts to help create a future we all believe in.

Working Together to Make Life in Our Community Better

Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative (FLEC) and TVA were founded on a mission to serve — through reliable and affordable energy, a safe and protected environment and thriving economic development.

FLEC is a non-profit member owned utility providing electricity to Blount, Loudon, and Monroe Counties in Tennessee. FLEC currently provides service to approximately 32,000 residential, commercial, and industrial consumers.

In both 2020 and 2021, FLEC matched TVA COVID-19 Community Care Fund dollars to provide $13,500 each year to non-profit, volunteer local first responder groups.

“FLEC’s membership is blessed to have so many brave men and women serving as our communities as volunteers in fire and rescue. It is our hope that these contributions will help them buy fuel and meet other needs necessary to sustain them in the future,” Jarrod Brackett, CEO of FLEC says.

Our energy has fueled progress in our region since 1933. See the ways it's helping shape our future.

Resources for Your Home, Business and Life

Our partnership makes helpful programs like these possible.

Education

Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative (FLEC) and TVA work together to support community-wide learning about energy efficiency, meet STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) objectives and provide opportunities to develop skills that can prepare students for careers in technical fields.

TVA STEM Grants

Teachers in public schools that receive power from a TVA distributor can win STEM grants up to $5,000. In 2022 alone, TVA distributed $1 million, in partnership with TVA retiree organization Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated and the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. TVA gives preference to applications covering its primary areas of focus–environment, energy, economic development and community problem solving.

Recent FLEC service area TVA STEM grant recipients in the FLEC service area are Fort Loudon Middle School in 2022 and Sequoyah High School (SQHS) and Loudon High School’s Career and Technical Education Programs in 2021.

SQHS won $5,000 to purchase robots the students used to learn how to program and even showcase those skills in competitions, along with green screen technology and 3-D printers.  FLEC’s CEO Jarrod Brackett says, “We are extremely proud of the initiative shown by the teachers and administrators at Sequoyah High School. Sequoyah’s commitment to gaining their Tennessee STEM School Designation illustrates their passion for providing the necessary tools our young people need for future success.”

TVA EnergyRight® School Uplift

Schools enrolled in TVA EnergyRight’s School Uplift program receive behavior-based strategic energy management (SEM) training that helps them integrate energy efficiency practices into their daily operations to save energy and money. Schools compete to win grants for infrastructure upgrades to reduce energy costs and improve the quality of the learning environment.

In 2022, Madisonville Intermediate School was chosen to participate in School Uplift. They have even formed a School Uplift Energy Team comprised of teachers and staff to track and manage the program, and to communicate about messaging and activities. They also created an Energy Tribe of student representatives to lead conservation efforts in their respective classrooms.

The Energy Team provided the following statement: “This is a huge opportunity for Madisonville Intermediate School! This yearlong program is designed to help us make smarter energy choices, save money on energy costs, and reduce our impact on the environment. We plan to provide opportunities for the greater school community—parents and caregivers, elected officials, school board members and volunteers—to get involved with our energy saving activities.”

TVA EnergyRight Educational Workshops

Eye Spy Energy Kids’ Workshop

TVA EnergyRight and FLEC partner to bring Spark, Bolt, Zap and their other EnergyRight Monster friends to elementary schools across the community, teaching students where energy comes from, how we use it and ways to save at home. Students can continue the energy-saving fun with their families using Eye Spy Energy Kits.

In the fall of 2022, Madisonville Intermediate School student leaders appointed to the MIS Energy Tribe participated in a virtual Eye Spy workshop.

Energy Evolution High School Workshop

TVA EnergyRight and FLEC are working together to offer engaging, interactive workshops that empower high school students to reduce their environmental impact and lead the next wave of our planet’s energy evolution.

Working Together

Recreation

TVA management of Tennessee Valley’s public lands and waterways provides many opportunities for residents and tourists in the Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative service area to participate in outdoor activities.

The Tellico Reservoir, created to divert two waterways into Fort Loudon, is a favorite spot for boating, trout and bass fishing and camping.

Reliability

Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative partners with TVA to provide safe, reliable, clean power to service area customers. TVA supplies community energy to 153 local power companies and about 60 large industrial customers and federal facilities at the lowest feasible cost. For more than 20 years, TVA’s transmission system has achieved a reliability rate of 99.999 percent.

More than half of the electricity generated by TVA is derived from carbon-free resources. TVA’s diverse energy portfolio includes coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric plants as well as renewables.

Transmission lines

Residential

FLEC partners with TVA to help customers make smart energy decisions and save money through TVA EnergyRight®.

Together, they provide resources that help customers make smart home energy decisions. From DIY energy-saving advice to reputable local contractor recommendations, TVA EnergyRight® offers ways to help improve home energy efficiency and save money on the power bill.

Community Energy - Residential