Nashville is in the heart of TVA’s service area and would have a harder time breaking away from the utility than cities on the edge would, like Memphis. It’s hoping to make a deal that would allow it to add more renewable energy than TVA has in mind. Credit: Derrick Brutel/CC-BY-SA-2.0 As cities in the South start exploring ways to expand renewable energy, some are running into an obstacle that could set those plans back decades: The nation’s largest public utility, concerned about its income base, has started pressuring its customers to lock in long-term contracts that critics say could leave the region relying on fossil fuels for years to come. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a public utility owned by the federal government, serves a population of 10 million in seven southeastern states through a distribution network of local power companies. While it has a lower carbon footprint than […]