Tom Hrach
- Professor, University of Memphis
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Articles by Tom Hrach
Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis
Correction: The solar farm along Walnut Grove Road at Agricenter International is one of the most visible solar projects in Shelby County. An earlier version of this story misstated its size. This story also has been updated to include MLGW’s recent budgeting for solar power. After years of stagnation, Memphis is finally taking major steps toward creating a solar power system.
Memphis struggles to develop solar power
Memphis Light Gas and Water is taking baby steps this year to create its own solar power system, but a major hurdle stands in the way: an antiquated contract with its power supplier. MLGW's exclusive power contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority forbids the city-owned utility from getting electricity from anyone but TVA.
Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
Solar panels are rare, but not absent in Memphis, as seen here with this modest collection along Farm Road behind the Shelby County Code Enforcement office. (Photo:/Tom Hrach) kAmkDA2? DEJ=6lQ7@?E\H6:89Ei c__Qm|6>A9:D {:89E v2D 2?5 (2E6C :D E2<:?8 D@>6 323J DE6AD E9:D J62C E@ 4C62E6 :ED @H? D@=2C A@H6C DJDE6>[ 3FE 2 >2;@C 9FC5=6 DE2?5D :? E96 H2Ji 2? 2?E:BF2E65 4@?EC24E H:E9 :ED A@H6C DFAA=:6C]k^DA2?mk^Am kAmkDA2?
Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
Solar panels are rare, but not absent in Memphis, as seen here with this modest collection along Farm Road behind the Shelby County Code Enforcement office. (Photo:/Tom Hrach) kAmkDA2? DEJ=6lQ7@?E\H6:89Ei c__Qm|6>A9:D {:89E v2D 2?5 (2E6C :D E2<:?8 D@>6 323J DE6AD E9:D J62C E@ 4C62E6 :ED @H? D@=2C A@H6C DJDE6>[ 3FE 2 >2;@C 9FC5=6 DE2?5D :? E96 H2Ji 2? 2?E:BF2E65 4@?EC24E H:E9 :ED A@H6C DFAA=:6C]k^DA2?mk^Am kAmkDA2?
Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
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Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
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Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun Original
Memphis Light Gas and Water is taking some baby steps this year to create its own solar power system, but a major hurdle stands in the way: an antiquated contract with its power supplier. MLGW’s exclusive power contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority forbids the city-owned utility from getting electricity from anyone but TVA.
Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
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Memphis’ antiquated TVA contract keeps community from getting power from the sun
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Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis
Memphis Light Gas and Water is taking baby steps this year to create its own solar power system, but a major hurdle stands in the way: an antiquated contract with its power supplier. MLGW’s exclusive power contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority forbids the city-owned utility from getting electricity from anyone but TVA.
Memphis Has No Representation On TVA Board
More than 11 months since she was nominated to become the only Black member of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors, Memphian Patrice Robinson is still waiting to take her seat. Robinson, a former Memphis City Council member, was nominated by President Joe Biden to the nine-member TVA board on Sept. 11, 2023. She has yet to be confirmed. In fact, she has not even had a confirmation hearing, and it doesn’t look like one will be scheduled any time soon.
TVA board still has no Memphis members
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TVA board still has no Memphis members
Tennessee Valley Authority offices in Knoxville. (Photo: TVA) kAmk6>mW%9:D DE@CJ H2D @C:8:?2==J AF3=:D965 3J %96 x?DE:EFE6 7@C !F3=:4 $6CG:46 #6A@CE:?8 2E E96 &?:G6CD:EJ @7 |6>A9:D]Xk^6>mk^Am kAm|@C6 E92? `` >@?E9D D:?46 D96 H2D ?@>:?2E65 E@ 364@>6 E96 @?=J q=24< >6>36C @7 E96 %6??6DD66 '2==6J pFE9@C:EJ’D q@2C5 @7 s:C64E@CD[ |6>A9:2? !2EC:46 #@3:?D@? :D DE:== H2:E:?8 E@ E2<6 96C D62E]k^Am kAm#@3:?D@?[ 2 7@C>6C |6>A9:D r:EJ r@F?4:= >6>36C[ H2D ?@>:?2E65 3J !C6D:56?E y@6 q:56?
TVA board still has no Memphis members Original
“I am still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. This has just not been a priority,” Robinson said. “It has been a little nerve wracking, but I am not there yet.” Currently, eight people are seated on the nine-member board. All are white. None are from West Tennessee. A federally owned utility company, TVA supplies electricity to parts of seven states. It is the exclusive supplier of electricity to Memphis.
Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis
More than 11 months since she was nominated to become the only Black member of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors, Memphian Patrice Robinson is still waiting to take her seat. Robinson, a former Memphis City Council member, was nominated by President Joe Biden to the nine-member TVA board on Sept. 11, 2023. She has yet to be confirmed. In fact, she has not even had a confirmation hearing, and it doesn’t look like one will be scheduled any time soon.
Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis
The windows in Mary Reid’s Memphis home sparkle with double panes and a clean white finish – all while keeping the precious cool air in during the scorching summer and the harsh cold drafts out during the bitter winter. It is quite an improvement on the old windows at her home on Devenshire Lane in Southeast Memphis. “It would rain inside the house. The windowpanes were that bad,” Reid said. “Now, I have the insulation. It is not raining in my house anymore.
Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis
The windows in Mary Reid’s Memphis home sparkle with double panes and a clean white finish – all while keeping the precious cool air in during the scorching summer and the harsh cold drafts out during the bitter winter. It is quite an improvement on the old windows at her home on Devenshire Lane in Southeast Memphis. “It would rain inside the house. The windowpanes were that bad,” Reid said. “Now, I have the insulation. It is not raining in my house anymore.
Why a newspaper's editorial endorsement empowers the community it serves | Opinion
The newspaper candidate endorsement’s only point of view was – who will do the best job for all the citizens. Tom Hrach Guest Columnist There was a time when your local newspaper did candidate endorsements. These would be short articles of about 200 words that outlined the strengths and weaknesses of candidates running for office. They would make a judgment about who could best do the job. These would be printed in your local newspaper regularly a few weeks before Election Day.
Mass shootings, gun violence, names of perpetrators
MASS SHOOTINGSNews Media Heeding Call to Limit Naming Perpetrators in Mass Shootings Published 3 May 2022 Is reducing the number of times the perpetrator’s name is used in news coverage in the public interest? It certainly diminishes the notoriety of the perpetrator and reduces any incentive to become famous. Yet when the name is not used, other more relevant details, such as the person’s motives and background, may also not be reported.
Reporting that hits home: Covering science for local audiences
From building trust with readers to indulging your own curiosity, local reporters share tips for finding science stories for local audiences. When Sabrina Moreno joined the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia as a general-assignment reporter, she wasn’t planning to write about health or science. Then, on her first day in March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and the virus started infiltrating Moreno’s reporting, too.
News media heeding call to limit naming perpetrators in mass shootings
Thomas J. Hrach University of Memphis/The Conversation The day after a man opened fire at a Collierville, Tennessee, grocery store, killing one person and wounding 13 others before turning the gun on himself, local police conducted an impromptu news conference to identify the perpetrator.
Redacción Regional launches to cover common threads of corruption and authoritarianism across Central America
In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele hijacked the political party, Nuevas Ideas, which was formed by members of the Salvadoran diaspora to help him get elected. This narrative, according to a new investigation — the first — from the newly-formed Redacción Regional in Central America, is quite different from what Bukele himself is pushing. Contrary to what the investigation, called República Finquera has found, Bukele has been pushing that he formed the party himself with associates close to him.
Attention, Joe Rogan: Spotify now reserves the right to restrict the reach of misinformation
“In instances when content touches on sensitive topics but does not cross the threshold which would require removal under our Platform Rules, we may take steps to restrict and limit its reach,” say the new rules. After Spotify’s Joe Rogan Experience released a widely derided episode that made covid vaccines sound as safe as Russian roulette — with a guest who argued the vacinated were victims of “mass formation psychosis,” a thing that does not exist — there was pushback from many corners.
The news media seems to be heeding the call to limit naming perpetrators in mass shootings
One researcher’s work has found that, over the past decade, the news media has reduced the number of times the name of a mass shooter is reported. The day after a man opened fire at a Collierville, Tennessee, grocery store, killing one person and wounding 13 others before turning the gun on himself, local police conducted an impromptu news conference to identify the perpetrator.
News media heeding call to limit naming perpetrators in mass shootings
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The day after a man opened fire at a Collierville, Tennessee, grocery store, killing one person and wounding 13 others before turning the gun on himself, local police conducted an impromptu news conference to identify the perpetrator.
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