MILLINGTON, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – Millington has officially gone green. The largest solar farm in the state of Tennessee is now operating in the city.
We’ve all been hearing about solar power and solar farms for quite some time now.
You might not see much of a difference at first on your utility bill, but a solar farm, like the one in Millington, is expected to keep rates from going up. And it’s expected to renew energy for the next 20 years.
“This is about really moving to green energy,” said Jim Balocki, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy.
The Millington solar farm is quite a sight to see. Hundreds of acres of solar panels that took $100-million and three years to build.
“The electrons here will go into their homes and this will become a source of distributed energy that’s close to their house, which will directly benefit them from improved power quality and quantity,” John Kliem with the U.S. Navy Energy Security Programs said.
The land, once a horse ranch, was turned into a solar farm to benefit residents and the U.S. Navy.
“The solar farm will provide safe and reliable power in the event of an outage, either caused by natural disaster or God-forbid our adversaries, we’ll be able to continue the mission here,” said Kliem.
More than 400 acres on Bethuel Road near Millington Elementary is now the largest source of solar power in the state.
It may not make your utility bills cheaper, but officials say rates won’t increase.
This was a unique partnership between the U.S. Navy, city of Millington, MLGW, TVA, and Silicon Ranch to provide green power to the community and help keep us all safe.
“This will help reinforce the blanket of freedom our Navy provides each and every day around the world to our nation,” Balocki said.
Officials say “green power” will benefit about 7,500 households and also help attract new businesses to the Mid-South area.