History

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) has been a leading voice for energy reform to protect the quality and beauty of our region's natural resources for more than 20 years.

Founded in 1985, SACE has grown to be a multi-faceted organization with five offices throughout the region and initiatives designed to slow global warming and bring healthy air to breathe and safe water to drink to the entire Southeast.

Over the years we have successfully changed public and corporate policies by exerting the influence of our constituents, staff, board of directors and partner organizations. SACE continues be a major player in shaping the future for energy and the environment in the Southeast and the nation.

EARLY YEARS

Our origins grew out of strong citizen concern for costly projects by the region's largest electric utility companies that were harming communities' water, air and land resources and consumers' pocketbooks.

SACE was organized in 1981 under its initial name Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition (TVEC) and shortly thereafter became the Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition (TVERC). TVERC succeeded in bringing public awareness and media scrutiny to a multi-billion dollar investment by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build 17 nuclear power plants. SACE contributed to halting TVA's nuclear construction program after the utility completed five nuclear reactors and tallied a $28 billion debt.

Meanwhile in a similar initiative, the Campaign for a Prosperous Georgia-formed in 1983 and later named Georgians for Clean Energy (GCE)-brought notable public scrutiny of the Southern Company's plan to complete construction of one of the last nuclear power plants built in the country that would result in the largest electric rate increase in Georgia history.

These early campaigns set the stage for TVA and Southern Company, as well as other large utilities in the region, to be held accountable for long-range, integrated resource planning with attention to costs and factors such as air pollution from the coal-fired power plants.

During the 1990s, SACE and GCE led the charge for TVA, Georgia Power and Savannah Electric to devise 20-year plans showing ways they intended to satisfy growing electric needs while keeping costs reasonable and factoring in environmental concerns. During this time, SACE also pressured for the reformation of TVA's board structure.

In early 2003, Georgians for Clean Energy joined forces with Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to form a powerful organization with more than 20 years of experience in environmental issues.

SACE continues today to advocate on issues such as TVA debt reduction and stricter pollution controls for all Southeastern power plants, with increased efforts to stop global warming through the growth of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

ORGANIZATIONAL EXPANSION

By 2000, SACE had significantly expanded its programs and geographic scope to include the eight-state region of the Southeast. Our focus shifted to advocate for dirty, old coal-fired power plants to dramatically reduce their air pollution and the growth of renewable energy options in the Southeast through green power pricing programs.

In 2001, SACE became the regional coordinator for the Southeast Power Plant Clean-up Campaign, a four-state arm of the National Campaign Against Dirty Power, and still continues to advance this initiative regionwide.

At this time we were also instrumental in starting and promoting TVA's Green Power Switch program that brought the first wind turbines in the Southeast to Tennessee along with solar panels and other forms of renewable energy.

Subsequently, SACE brought stakeholders from individual Southeastern states together to agree on realistic parameters for green power premium programs. In areas where SACE endorses particular utility green power programs, we have worked closely with those utilities to help publicize their programs to customers.

SACE also put renewed attention to the need for utility energy efficiency programs and well-coordinated energy efficiency funding mechanisms regionwide. As utility companies propose hundreds of miles of expanded transmission lines in the next few years, local officials and property owners have become increasingly aware of ways to curb the need for new power plants, such as with energy efficiency measures and solar technologies.

In 2002, we pressed for new appliance standards in Florida and proposed a transmission site and transmission needs assessment law in Georgia.

In keeping with our early emphasis, SACE continues to educate the public about the hazards of nuclear power. We are developing a nuclear awareness campaign to confront a renewed interest by some federal leaders and the nuclear industry to build new nuclear plants in the Southeast.

SACE actively promotes more protective water policies and the use of energy technologies that help clean drinking water and recreational water resources that have been adversely affected by high polluting power plants throughout the region.

We also work diligently to defend our nation's clean air laws and strive for new ones through sound science, media outreach and public education to show the seriousness of our region's dirty air problems.

In 2003 SACE developed an initiative in Atlanta to clean up dirty diesel engines and to bring cleaner diesel fuel to our region.

We are systematically incorporating the essential work on reducing global warming emissions into all that we do through cleaning up power plants to promoting renewables and efficiency.

FUTURE

Our work is far from complete. As our region's population grows the fastest of any region in the country, and as the many precious waterways, national parks and communities in our region become increasingly abused by power plant pollution, SACE is committed to continuing our role as the leading regional advocate for policy solutions to these problems.

We are keenly aware that decisions made today-whether to protect our natural resources or to let them deteriorate-will have a dramatic effect on our region's health and well-being in the future.

Please join our member-supported organization so that we may continue our work against air and water pollution from power plants, diesel engines, nuclear waste and inefficient energy use, reduce harmful man-made sources that cause global warming and advance the solutions of energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean generation technologies throughout the Southeast.