Middle Tennessee Electric and the Smyrna Rutherford County Airport have completed a solar power project that will pump green energy onto the cooperative’s electric grid.

The airport’s solar field covers six acres and consists of 3,377 panels, which on a sunny day each produce 295 watts of power…enough energy to power approximately 50 homes on average a year.

“We were looking at some long-term projects which would make us more energy self-sufficient and saw some solar installations at larger airports around the country,” Smyrna Rutherford Airport Excecutive Director John Black said. “The solar field will help us from a financial standpoint, saving our operations money.”

Through its Generation Partners pilot program, Middle Tennessee Electric, in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Authority, offers businesses and residents the opportunity to generate power through renewable energy resources and sell it back to the local power system.

MTEMC’s Communications Coordinator Todd Palmer says this project has been in the works for two years…

Middle Tennessee Electric, one of the nation's largest electric distribution cooperatives, serves nearly 187,000 members in Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Cannon counties.