In short: Memphis Light, Gas and Water power costs about 12.2¢ per kWh, and its customers averaged 327 minutes without power in 2024. In August 2026 a bow echo storm hit more than 140,000 MLGW customers. MLGW pays nothing for exported solar and adds a $14.40 monthly charge for self-generators, so backup usually comes before solar here.
This page covers Memphis, Germantown and Collierville, all in Shelby County. Statewide rules, licensing and averages are on our Tennessee energy guide. Here we cover MLGW’s own solar rules, which are stricter than most in the state, recent storms, and what they mean for each choice.
Memphis at a glance
- Utility: Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), the only electric utility EIA lists in Shelby County. About 12.2¢ per kWh for homes (2024 average).
- Outages, 2024: 327 minutes per customer counting major storms, 281 minutes on normal days, and 1.95 interruptions per customer (EIA-861). Most of the outage time came on ordinary days, not in one big storm.
- Sun: 4.45 kWh per square meter per day (NASA POWER), the sunniest of the five Tennessee metros we cover, about 1,300 kWh a year per kW of panels by our rough estimate.
- Top hazards: cold waves and tornadoes rated “very high” in Shelby County; earthquake, heat wave, ice storm, lightning, flooding, strong wind and winter weather “relatively high” (FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025).
- Public charging: 188 public ports in Memphis and 14 in Collierville (AFDC, October 3, 2026).
Your utility and what it means
MLGW buys all its power from TVA under an all-requirements contract, which, it explains, means it cannot buy electricity from anyone else. So MLGW does not offer net metering, and does not buy your extra solar either. Before installing, you choose one of three options on MLGW’s interconnection application:
- Self-Generation: you use your solar power as it is made. Anything beyond what the house is using at that moment flows to the grid “without financial benefit.” MLGW also bills self-generating homes an Electric Service Availability charge, currently $14.40 a month.
- Dispersed Power Production: you sign a separate five-year contract with TVA, which pays its avoided cost, a rate that changes monthly. TVA pays by direct deposit, not as a credit on your MLGW bill. An MLGW smart meter is required.
- Both: use solar at home and sell only the instant surplus to TVA.
MLGW also offers Green Switch, where $2 a month buys a 200 kWh block of TVA solar; it is an extra cost and does not lower your bill. Neither MLGW nor TVA finances home solar.
Backup power in Memphis
On the evening of Saturday, August 22, 2026, a bow echo storm brought straight-line winds above 70 mph across Memphis and Shelby County and affected more than 140,000 MLGW customers. MLGW restored 40,000 overnight but warned others to expect several days without power. Water treatment plants were hit too, so MLGW asked everyone to conserve water. Each broken pole takes a crew about eight hours to replace.
FEMA rates both tornadoes and cold waves “very high” here, so Memphis homes face long outages in August heat and in January cold:
- Short outages: a portable power station for phones, Wi-Fi, fans and a CPAP.
- A day or two: a home battery, which switches over without anyone touching it.
- Several days: a standby generator on natural gas (MLGW is also the gas utility) or propane, sized for air conditioning or the furnace blower.
Run portable generators outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the house with exhaust pointed away, never in a garage, and keep battery-backed CO alarms inside (CPSC). A licensed electrician installs the transfer switch or interlock. Start with the generator sizing tool, our backup power guide and generator installation.
Solar in Memphis
MLGW is unusually frank: because power is cheap and Shelby County gets less sun than the national average, it says solar payback “likely will take 25 years or longer.” Our own math agrees it is tight. Each kW of panels makes about 1,300 kWh a year, worth about $158 if every kWh is used in the home at 12.2¢. The $14.40 monthly availability charge comes to about $173 a year, more than one kW earns, so a small system can barely break even and any surplus you do not sell to TVA earns nothing.
MLGW’s advice: improve efficiency first, size the array for most of your daytime use in spring and fall, check installers’ NABCEP credentials, and do not let anyone start building before MLGW approves the application. Run your own numbers with the solar potential calculator and solar savings calculator, and read is solar worth it and solar installation. The federal 25D credit ended for systems completed after 2025.
Home batteries in Memphis
With exports worth nothing under Self-Generation, a battery is how a Memphis solar owner keeps the midday surplus. MLGW notes that a battery extends the hours your array supplies the home and gives “limited backup power,” but raises the project cost. Without solar, a battery is simply backup for MLGW’s frequent short outages. See battery installation, home battery cost and the battery backup calculator.
EV charging in Memphis
Memphis has 188 public charging ports. At home, at about 30 kWh per 100 miles and MLGW’s 12.2¢ average, an EV costs about $3.65 per 100 miles, or $438 for 12,000 miles a year (our estimate). A Level 2 charger needs a 240-volt circuit and an electrical permit; see EV charger installation and the EV charging cost calculator. Ask MLGW about any EV rate before you buy.
Drive on another fuel? See every alternative fuel station in Memphis: hydrogen, propane, natural gas, E85 ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Permits and inspections
- Memphis, Germantown and unincorporated Shelby County: Memphis and Shelby County Construction Enforcement reviews plans, issues building and electrical permits and inspects work for Memphis, Arlington, Germantown, Lakeland, Millington and unincorporated Shelby County. It also registers contractors and lets you search licensed ones.
- Collierville: not on that list, so check with the Town of Collierville about permits.
Use a licensed electrical contractor (state lookup on the Tennessee page) who pulls the permits and files MLGW’s interconnection application. In Germantown and Collierville neighborhoods with HOAs, check covenants on panels and generator placement first.
Cities we cover
- Memphis
- Germantown
- Collierville
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Memphis energy FAQ
Does MLGW offer net metering?
No. MLGW buys all its power from TVA and says that contract prevents it from buying from anyone else. Extra solar power earns nothing unless you sign a separate Dispersed Power Production contract with TVA, which pays its monthly avoided cost by direct deposit.
What is MLGW’s Electric Service Availability charge?
A monthly charge MLGW bills customers who generate their own power, currently $14.40 for homes and subject to change. MLGW says it covers fixed costs that would otherwise be recovered through the energy you no longer buy. Include it in any solar payback estimate; MLGW notes that TVA’s solar calculator leaves it out.
How long were Memphis outages after the August 2026 storm?
The bow echo storm of August 22 affected more than 140,000 MLGW customers. MLGW restored 40,000 overnight and told the rest to plan for several days without power while crews replaced poles, each about eight hours of work.
Is solar worth it in Memphis?
Mostly for resilience or environmental reasons, not quick savings. MLGW itself expects payback of 25 years or more. A system sized to daytime use, paired with a battery, gets the most from it; check that savings exceed any loan payment before you sign.
Sources
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 for 2024 (sales, reliability, service territories), read October 3, 2026. Memphis Light, Gas and Water: Green Power page (Self-Generation, Dispersed Power Production, availability charge, solar tips) and August 23, 2026 storm release. Memphis and Shelby County Construction Enforcement. FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025). NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020. AFDC Station Locator, October 3, 2026. CPSC generator safety guidance.