MLGW coverage in one place: the city-owned utility that delivers electricity, natural gas, and water to Memphis households, plus the board that sets the rates, the spending, and the reliability calls made with ratepayer money. Every rate move and board vote is put on the record.
Protect Our Aquifer is taking a 1,000-signature petition to MLGW asking the utility to end volume discounts for its largest industrial water users and adopt a conservation structure, pointing to Jackson, Mississippi, where higher-usage tiers now cost nearly double the base rate.
The 901 Report
Doug McGowen says the city and county will seek about $18 million in reimbursement for the August 22 storm. The application, the program, and the split are all still unpublished.
The 901 Report
Meeting in Memphis on August 20, the TVA board created a data center rate class effective October 1, 2026, approved a $13 billion-plus spending plan through FY2029, and, per FOX13, gave SpaceXAI the go-ahead for a direct connection to the TVA grid at its Whitehaven facility. The analysis behind the rate has not been released.
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A bow echo with straight-line winds reported at 80 to 100 mph hit Shelby County the evening of August 22. MLGW President and CEO Doug McGowen says the vast majority of customers should have power back by the evening of August 27. The 901 Report is putting the utility's own commitments on the record at hour one, so the week can be scored against them.
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MLK50 reports that nearly 1 in 5 Memphis households experienced at least one utility disconnection in 2025, and that disconnections are rising. MLGW's own published rules show a two-tier rating system, staggered shutoffs, and a $58 reconnection fee.
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The utility told the City Council the project would push rates down, not up, and would be fully operational by December 2028. The presentation did not include a public price tag.
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Outages are falling across Memphis, and that is real. But 17 percent of customers still lose power three or more times a year, and that number is rising. Everyone paid the same rate increase.
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As The 901 Report opens its MLGW beat, here is how the city-owned utility is governed, when its board meets in public, and where the rate increase now on every bill is supposed to go.
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