MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thank goodness for the board members at Memphis Light, Gas and Water.
Board members showed courage Wednesday by unanimously voting no to TVA's offer of a 20-year rolling contract.
A rolling contract means we could be 15 years into it and if MLGW told the TVA it wanted to leave, the TVA would still have 20 more years from then before it took effect. That's an insane offer only fools would sign.
But that's exactly what former MLGW President J.T. Young and the $1 million consultant we paid for recommended we do.
It means we're back to the status quo and everyone at the meeting seemed pretty happy about that.
"I think had it been a 10-year term, we'd have looked at this a lot different," said MLGW Board Chairman Mitch Graves. "But 20 years, 20 years rolling, was too much."
"This is what people power looks like," said Memphis Community Against Pollution President Justin J. Pearson.
"We are just so excited that we broke through on this issue, but the work is not over," said Protect Our Aquifer Executive Director Sarah Houston.
She's right. The work is not over.
We're the TVA's number one customer, providing more than $1 billion a year in revenue. It's finally time to seriously look at whether one of the many companies who bid for our business could do the job better and cheaper.
Any day now, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland should get a recommendation from an independent energy consultant and his choice to be the next MLGW president, Doug McGowan, takes over next week.
Let's let this play out and see what's best for all of us.