Clean, green, solar energy is arriving in Jackson in 2021.

A few leading, socially responsible corporations in the Roosevelt Parkway neighborhood of Jackson, Tennessee have formed a nonprofit organization called the Jackson Sustainability Cooperative (JSC) to share solar electricity.

Economies of scale and tax incentives are available to JSC that would not be available to individual companies, should they want to build their own solar facilities. This will enable JSC Members to reduce their electricity costs with no capital outlay.

The solar electricity will be generated by a facility being built on Roosevelt Parkway by Community Development Enterprises (CDE), a Jackson joint-venture general partnership.

Members of JSC will remain connected to the power grid of Jackson Energy Authority (JEA) and continue to receive most of their low-power electricity from JEA. However, Members will receive high-power solar electricity from JSC seamlessly, thereby lowering their total electricity costs.

JSC will get all its power from CDE’s solar facility, so around half of Members’ power will come from renewables.

This power will be uninterruptible, so will continue when JEA’s grid is down during storms, for example. No more sending workers home or lengthy restart protocols.

CDE will pay for the entire solar facility, underground wiring to Members’ buildings, and smart meters in each building.

A few Memberships remain available to nearby businesses with high peak-demands for electricity.

Benefits to Members

  • A major step toward meeting your company’s sustainability goals
  • Guaranteed to lower your total cost of electricity for 30 years.
  • Smart meters allow Members to monitor and prioritize individual circuits, enabling conservation
  • Higher quality, tightly regulated solar power improves reliability and extends the life of costly machinery
  • Enables expansion of your business in Jackson
  • No operating, maintenance, or upgrade costs or hassles
  • No need to use Members’ rooftops or grounds for solar arrays
  • Be recognized as an outstanding corporate citizen of Jackson

Benefits to the Jackson Community

Provided by CDE at No Cost to JSC Members.

  • Economic impact of $211M in the first ten years alone, per IMPLAN study, 1/26/21
  • Expand job opportunities; 511 new full-time-equivalent jobs in 2021 alone
  • Establish training programs with internships in renewable energy at schools and colleges
  • Increase the skilled-labor pool in Jackson
  • Attract new businesses to Jackson through availability of renewable energy
  • Contribute to Jackson’s redevelopment and infrastructure
  • Support charities and philanthropic projects in the city of Jackson
  • Bring assistance into Jackson from other charitable organizations
  • Reduce stress on JEA/TVA grid by relieving peak-demand loads

About the Solar Facility

This 17 MW solar facility will be the most productive per acre in the entire world.

It is being constructed on 34.27 acres on Roosevelt Parkway in Jackson.

It will use 35,500 of the world’s highest quality, most reliable, longest-lasting, and most efficient panels: SunPower X21-470-COM.

It is being installed by iSun, Inc., a large solar development firm with over 50 years experience.

The top-quality, lithium Battery Energy Storage System is manufactured by Kore Power of Idaho. They have a perfect safety record.

Civil engineering has been done by L. I. Smith & Assoc. of Paris, Tennessee.

The engineering of the entire system, and overall project management, is being done by Northern Reliability, Inc., whose team has designed and deployed over 1,000 microgrids around the world in the last forty years.

The entire facility will be storm-hardened, to ensure reliable, uninterruptible power during storms, with safe, fire proofed, air-conditioned battery buildings.

See article on Business Wire