2 min read October 2022 —Invest: spoke with Chris Jones, president and CEO of Middle Tennessee Electric, about being the second-biggest electric cooperative in the United States, its innovative smart grid technology and how Tennessee is becoming an industry leader for EV vehicles and batteries.
What is the history of MTE and how has that culminated in becoming the second-biggest electric cooperative in the country?
I was greatly blessed to come here to Middle Tennessee in 1999 as a communications coordinator. It gave me exposure to different parts of the organization and I became the CEO in 2013. We are a vitally important institution to the communities we serve. Our service territory includes the fastest-growing counties in Tennessee and that continues to be the case. By virtue of that, we have grown rapidly along with our communities. We are the second-largest co-op in the country by members served, and we are No. 1 by electricity sales. There are 900 electric co-ops across the country, with many of them being in the Southeast. This is a nonprofit business model and we distribute power generated by the Tennessee Valley Power Authority.
Economic development is also an important part of what we do. In addition to the growth we have seen, we have also had mergers and acquisitions with other utilities within our boundaries, including the cities of Lebanon, and Murfreesboro. We serve 100% of towns in our territory, unlike most other cooperatives.
What are some highlights for the co-op in 2022?
Our partnership with Murfreesboro Electric happened in 2020, so the last two years we have worked together to make that transition a smooth one. It earned us efficiency and economies of scale. They were a larger, municipal system of 70,000 customers, so with this growth we serve more than 320,000 accounts total and 600,000 residents. It has been a great benefit to the communities we serve and it will serve dividends for many years to come.
What are some trends for electric cooperatives looking five years into the future?
We are not a typical co-op but that is a virtue of our size and locations. Some small co-ops may be doing similar things but we are stressing innovation. That comes in many categories, from member services to smart grid technologies. Smart grid has many components but a fundamentally important part is fiber-optics technology. Another business acquisition of MTE was the majority purchase of United Communications in 2018. They are a fiber/broadband company and we are collaboratively building a fiber communication system across our service area. This allows for broadband service but it also creates a smart grid for the electric infrastructure using a low-latency network. This will ultimately enable a self-healing grid that allows instantaneous repair of outages, rerouting power to bring back service automatically.
The tech is there. The missing piece is that there is not a meter that can take a fiber connection, but that is coming. We are building from the large to the small. It is important to note that we do not generate the electricity – Tennessee Valley Authority does – but there is a national push to make our electricity carbon neutral or free. We applaud those efforts, and by 2035, TVA will be 80% carbon neutral. One day, they will get to 100% carbon neutral. Part of the reason why we can’t get there by 2035 is that the technology does not exist for that to happen and still provide capacity and reliability. The push for renewables has not brought the corresponding capacity and reliability to fill the gap. There are some limitations in becoming carbon neutral that are very real.
Also, Tennessee is a hub for manufacturing EVs, batteries and charging stations. Companies are looking to site here and that is very exciting, especially as an energy provider. We are doing a lot of work in this space. We have started an EV car club that has gone national. Within our territory, owners and those interested in EV technology can get together and collaborate.
What partnerships are important to your operations?
We have too many partnerships to mention, but they start with TVA, our power provider. TVA, along with the State of Tennessee, the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association (MTIDA) and our local governments and chambers of commerce are great economic development partners. We also have partnerships through our local power company associations, so we can share notes on operational and service issues, helping each other to better understand and meet the expectations of those we serve. Fundamentally, as a cooperative, we consider each of our members as our partners, in addition to being our owners. Their high satisfaction with our service and mission delivery are our driving force.
With the growth of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, what are your expectations?
I speculate the growth will continue but it will be somewhat mitigated by a recession. Our area is insulated from the bigger impact of those events but I expect a taper of sorts moving forward. Our growth has been greater post-pandemic than pre-pandemic, so we hope that will continue. Growth will probably continue more than at the national level and as we come out of a recession, it will continue to accelerate. We have seen cycles like this for over 40 years in our region.
How are you collaborating with educational institutions?
Two of the seven cooperative principles are concern for community and having a focus on education and training. This training is both internal and external, so we have a calling to impact our community in a positive way through education. We want to show them the value of being a cooperative, so we are consistently in schools speaking about this. It is important to understand the political process concerning cooperatives. We are owned by our members and we elect our own leaders, so we are participatory and we want young people to see the value in that. It is an important part of who we are.
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