Top Tier — Tennessee Battery Sales Reference

Memphis Light, Gas & Water · Memphis & Shelby County

Sales reference for reps working MLGW territory. This is the deep reference — how to sell it up top, full utility detail below. Tennessee is TVA country — a federal wholesale authority behind some hundred and fifty local power companies, no state net-metering statute, no retail choice — and MLGW is the LPC where the least is published: the largest three-service municipal utility in America — electric, gas, and water under one roof — whose distributed-generation interconnection process exists in its charge schedules, but whose export compensation terms appear nowhere a customer can read them. So this territory runs on a discipline most sales organizations don't have: until MLGW's terms are confirmed from primary sources, our proposals claim zero bill savings. Not small savings, not estimated savings — zero, stated on the proposal itself. What we know for certain: MLGW's structure is TVA wholesale plus MLGW's retail markup; a distributed-generation interconnection process exists with its own charges; solar customers in TVA territory carry the Grid Access Charge; and Green Power Providers closed at the end of 2019, so legacy participants hold contract terms we read before quoting anything. What we sell in the meantime is everything a battery does that no export rate touches: backup power in a city whose ice storms are regional legend and whose restorations have historically run long, protection against the rate curve on power you'd otherwise buy, and the takeover of an orphaned system. When MLGW's terms confirm, the proposal updates — and because we quoted zero, every confirmed cent is upside the customer was told about in advance.

What kind of market this is

MLGW is a confirmation-pending market run on the zero-claim register — the most-pending in our book: proposals show the with-battery bill unchanged and state why, the confirmed facts (the TVA-plus-markup structure, the DG interconnection process's existence, the Grid Access Charge, the GPP screen) are told plainly, and the sale stands on resilience, rate-position, and the takeover — with every future confirmed cent positioned as disclosed upside. Five defining facts:

1. Almost everything is pending here — so the claim is zero, and we say that with a straight face. MLGW's Schedule of Charges documents a distributed-generation interconnection process — the process exists — but no export compensation rate or netting basis appears in any published document our research could reach. Both the residential rate card and the solar terms are being pinned from primary sources — and until they pin, our proposals claim no bill savings at all. The with-battery bill renders unchanged, with the explanation on the page.
2. The confirmed structure is told first. MLGW rides TVA wholesale plus MLGW's retail markup — the same architecture as every TVA LPC. Its DG interconnection process carries its own charges (documented in the Schedule of Charges; specifics confirmed at application). Solar customers in TVA territory carry the Grid Access Charge — tiered by average usage, $4.50/month at or below 500 kWh, $7.33 from 501 to 2,000 (pinned from a TVA-LPC rate schedule; higher tiers possible, tool carries current). A battery removes none of it, and the customer hears it from us.
3. The GPP screen comes before any conversation about terms. TVA's Green Power Providers closed December 31, 2019. Legacy participants hold premium contracted terms that vary by contract — read the customer's paperwork before discussing their economics. Everyone else is on KUB's current arrangement, whatever its cents turn out to be.
4. No VPP, no plan to shop, no phantom money. No VPP routes any of our hardware in Tennessee. KUB is a monopoly LPC — no retail choice exists. No Tennessee battery rebate, no state credit (no state income tax to credit against), sales tax ~9.25% applies with no exemption found — priced honestly — and the federal ITC expired at the end of 2025. The no-program list is given in full, unprompted.
5. What we sell today is what's true today. Backup power in Memphis — where the February 2023 ice storm is recent memory, ice-and-wind events are the city's signature outage drivers, and restorations have historically run long — plus the rate-position argument on the power the customer keeps buying, plus the takeover of a system whose installer is likely gone. The zero-claim proposal is the trust move: when MLGW's terms confirm, the projection updates, and the customer was told exactly that at signing.

Your lead is the zero-claim discipline itself — it's the most credible sentence in the appointment. "Until your utility's export rate is confirmed from their own documents, this proposal claims no bill savings — here's what the battery does that no export rate touches" is an opener no competitor in this territory will match. The confirmed costs go first (the fee, the GAC), the GPP question opens the appointment, and the mountains close it.

Default configuration: backup-capable — the resilience case IS the bill case here, for now.

• Backup-capable: $18,500 cash / $23,942 financed / ~$228/mo
• Self-consumption-only: $17,000 cash / $22,068 financed / ~$210/mo

Confirm pricing, configuration, and GPP status in the tool before quoting — and never quote an export rate or savings figure in this territory until the tool itself carries one.

PART A — The Pitch (Problem → Solution → Urgency → Close)

The spine is multiple beats per section: customer headline + statement + rep layer (+ objection where noted). Beats marked (BACKUP ONLY) render only for backup config. The GPP screen opens the appointment; the zero-claim discipline governs every number.

The Problem

Your solar's export terms aren't published anywhere you can read them — and we're the ones telling you that. MLGW's documents show a distributed-generation interconnection process exists, but no export rate or netting terms appear in anything public. We're pinning the real arrangement from primary sources, and until we have, we won't put a savings number on paper. What we can tell you today: don't assume your excess is offsetting your bill — in TVA territory, most arrangements sell excess at a fraction of retail or not at all.

Rep layer: The honest-uncertainty opener — the register's defining move, at its purest here. What's CONFIRMED: the TVA-plus-markup structure; that a DG interconnection process exists (Schedule of Charges); the GAC. What's NOT: the export terms AND the exact rate card — and the rep says "being confirmed," never an estimate. The trust mechanics: a rep who says "I don't know yet, and here's what I refuse to guess about" owns the room for everything else. Objection — "Can't you just estimate it?" No — and that's the point. TVA-territory arrangements run sub-retail or uncompensated, but a pattern isn't your number, and this company doesn't quote numbers it hasn't verified.

You pay real charges either way. MLGW's interconnection process carries its own charges — documented in their Schedule of Charges, confirmed exactly at application — and solar customers in TVA territory carry the Grid Access Charge, four fifty to seven thirty-three a month. You're hearing it from us first.

Rep layer: The confirmed-costs beat — the told-first pattern: DG interconnection charges exist (Schedule of Charges — specifics at application, never guessed) + GAC $4.50/$7.33 (TVA-LPC rate schedule, primary). Never claim a battery removes either. The honest use: the charges sharpen self-supply — "you're paying for the interconnection either way; power you store and use yourself is the one flow nobody meters, purchases, or surcharges."

Your system is orphaned. Whoever installed your solar is likely gone, merged, or unreachable — especially after so many installers folded when the federal tax credit expired at the end of 2025. If something goes wrong, there's no one accountable. You own the system and the risk.

Rep layer: Standard orphaned-system beat. Ask who installed it and whether they'd answer a service call.

Your inverter is on the clock. Your inverter is several years old. When it fails out of warranty, that's about $3,500 to $5,000 out of pocket — and your system produces nothing until it's replaced, typically 4 to 8 weeks.

Rep layer: Standard inverter beat. SolarEdge ~12-yr warranty, real failure 8–15 yrs; Enphase 25-yr, real issues 10–20.

(BACKUP ONLY) Memphis ice is regional legend — and your panels shut off with the first downed line. The February 2023 ice storm is recent memory here, wind events ride the river corridor, and this city's restorations have historically run long. Grid-tied panels produce nothing in an outage. A battery keeps your critical systems running, and recharges from the sun through restoration.

Rep layer: Renders ONLY for backup config — and in the zero-claim register, THE beat. Honest-scale discipline: Memphis's pattern is real (Feb 2023 ice storm = recent significant regional event; wind events; historically long restorations) but MLGW-specific outage counts are unconfirmed — event-and-pattern framing only, never an invented figure. The city's own memory tells it.

The Solution

A battery does its three biggest jobs no matter what KUB's export rate turns out to be — and we'll show you the zero on purpose. Today's proposal claims no bill savings, in writing, because your utility's export terms aren't confirmed — and everything on it is therefore something you can bank: backup power through the storms this region actually gets, insulation from the rate curve on the power you keep buying, and a single accountable company behind your whole system. When KUB's rate confirms, your projection updates — and since we quoted zero, every confirmed cent lands as upside you were told about.

• Self-consumption: "Whatever your exports earn, stored power you use yourself beats it — we're just not putting a number on 'beats it' until your utility does."
• Backup: "All of that — and a house that runs when the ice takes the block down."

Monthly Cost Chart and Net Bill Breakdown render here — with the with-battery bill unchanged and the confirmation note displayed.

Rep layer: THE core cure beat — zero-claim edition. The proposal RENDERS the unchanged bill and the explainer; the rep owns it in words before the screen shows it ("you'll see zero savings on this page — here's why that's the honest version"). The stack, in order: resilience (the whole bill case for now) + rate-position (structural: whatever exports earn, self-supply beats it — no cents attached) + takeover. The upside framing: zero-quoted means confirmation is pure disclosed upside — the anti-overquote position, stated as the feature it is.

(BACKUP ONLY) It keeps your home running when the grid goes down. Powers your essentials — refrigerator, medical devices, connectivity, heat or cooling circuits by season — through an outage, and recharges from solar daily for as long as restoration takes.

Rep layer: The resilience cure beat. Memphis honesty: ice is the marquee (Feb 2023 fresh), wind the second act; historically long restorations make the multi-day sizing conversation the honest default; winter-sun recharge expectations set honestly.

We take it over. Top Tier becomes the single point of contact for your entire system — a new 10-year workmanship warranty, the 5-year Align Solar Protection contract ($0 deductible, non-transferable), and manufacturer warranty coordination.

Rep layer: Answers the orphaned-system problem. Transfers: workmanship with written consent; Align non-transferable; manufacturer per OEM terms.

Thousands you don't pay. The $11K+ Hidden Costs Avoided bundle — built into the takeover, not sold as extras.

Rep layer: Reframes total cost. "Your payment buys the battery plus warranty plus service plus inverter-replacement coverage — over $11K of value."

And whatever TVA and MLGW decide next, your stored power is yours. Your rates are set by your LPC inside TVA's framework — no plan to shop, no commission docket, just the utility's board and TVA's wholesale math upstream. The Grid Access Charge came out of that machinery once already. Power you store and use yourself answers to none of it.

Rate Justification + Own vs Rent render here.

Rep layer: The independence beat — TVA edition: monopoly LPC, board-set retail inside a federal framework; the GAC as evidence the machinery can add solar-specific charges (structural note, never a prediction). 25-yr scenarios: conservative 3%, moderate 5%, aggressive 7% — consumption-rate backdrop, never battery savings.

Urgency

The honest clocks — a mountain season, and a confirmation that cuts both ways.

The storm clock. Memphis's ice keeps its own calendar, and 2023 is recent memory. A battery in place before the cold months is heat and refrigeration; one ordered after an ice event is a backorder behind the city — in the town where restorations already run long.

Rep layer: THE urgency in the zero-claim register — preparedness-framed, terrain-told, no invented counts.

The confirmation clock — honest in both directions. MLGW's terms will confirm, and when they do, projections update. If you sign at today's zero-claim quote, the confirmation is upside. That's not pressure — it's just the arithmetic of quoting the floor.

Rep layer: The one register-specific clock — handled carefully: this is NOT a deadline and is never framed as one; it's the disclosed-upside structure of zero-quoting, stated once, factually. A rep who turns "terms will confirm" into urgency theater is manufacturing a clock — the discipline holds.

What is NOT a clock: a net-metering deadline. Tennessee has no net-metering statute, MLGW's arrangement has no sunset, and Green Power Providers closed back in 2019 — that's history and a screen, not a countdown. Anyone selling a Tennessee solar deadline is importing another state's pitch.

Rep layer: The anti-manufacture rule, TVA edition.

The Close

1. Ask the GPP question, then verify credit + configuration. "Were you ever enrolled in TVA's Green Power Providers program?" — a yes routes to the contract-read path before anything else. Then the credit check and backup vs self-consumption config.
2. Walk the zero-claim page in words before it renders. "You'll see no savings number on this proposal — your utility's export terms aren't confirmed, and we don't quote what we haven't verified. Here's what you're buying instead, and here's what happens when the terms confirm."
3. Customer reads and signs the service agreement. Walk the disclosures honestly — the unpublished export terms stated as exactly that, the interconnection charges confirmed at application, the GAC, the sales-tax reality, and the no-program economics.
4. Complete the Welcome Call. Finalizes the sale and sets expectations for installation.

Standing Rules (Do NOT Violate)

• ❌ NEVER coach reps to disqualify based on home tenure. Resale story is real — not "walk away."
• ❌ NEVER claim "all warranties transfer." Workmanship: with written consent. Align: non-transferable. Manufacturer: per OEM terms.
• ❌ NEVER fabricate inspection findings.
• ❌ NEVER quote a bill-reduction factor as a guarantee.
• ❌ NEVER quote a REP buyback rate as fixed/guaranteed — plan-dependent, confirm the customer's actual plan.
• ❌ 85+ confirmation call required. Customer confirms own finances, no POA, sound mind.
• ❌ Financing ends before age 91. 75 → 15-year max. 80 → 10-year max.
• ❌ Honest cancellation window. Overselling = free customer exit + $1K–$1.5K clawback.
• ❌ Certified before selling.

Go get the sale. A battery is a strong product — clean energy, independence, backup, long-term savings, and in Texas real VPP income. A customer who wants one for any honest reason is a good sale. We never walk away over price or low savings — that's the customer's call. Do right by the customer, protect the company, be honest.

PART B — The Deep Reference

1. Orientation

• Utility: Memphis Light, Gas & Water — the largest three-service municipal utility in the United States (electric, gas, water); LPC distributing TVA power; Memphis and Shelby County. Monopoly provider — no retail choice exists in TVA territory.
• Structure note: TVA (federal wholesale authority) sets wholesale rates and framework; MLGW sets retail terms within it. No state net-metering statute; no state commission rate jurisdiction over TVA LPCs.
• Market type: CONFIRMATION-PENDING, ZERO-CLAIM REGISTER — the most-pending in the book: both the rate card and the export terms unconfirmed → proposals claim $0 bill savings with the explainer rendered; DG interconnection process confirmed to exist (Schedule of Charges); GAC told first; GPP screen; no VPP/programs; Memphis ice resilience register.
• Default config: backup-capable ($18,500 / $23,942 / ~$228); self-consumption ($17,000 / $22,068 / ~$210).

2. How the MLGW Bill Works — What's Pinned and What Isn't

1. Consumption: MLGW's residential rate rides TVA wholesale plus MLGW's retail markup — the rate card was not extractable from published pages in our grounding passes and is being pinned; the tool carries the working figure, flagged. TVA-LPC energy rates in this class run around 12¢ all-in — context, never a quote.
2. The Grid Access Charge: TVA's DG surcharge — $4.50/month (≤500 kWh average) / $7.33 (501–2,000), pinned from a TVA-LPC rate schedule; higher tiers possible (tool carries current). Told first, always.
3. The interconnection process: documented in MLGW's Schedule of Charges (Distributed Generation Interconnection Charges section) — the process and its charges exist; specifics are confirmed at application, never assumed.
4. Exports: no export compensation rate or netting basis appears in any published MLGW document our research could reach — being pinned through MLGW customer service and the interconnection application packet; unconfirmed; never estimated aloud.
5. What this means for a battery, exactly: in TVA territory the pattern runs sub-retail or uncompensated — either way, stored self-supply beats exporting structurally. The terms are the unconfirmed part, so the claim is zero until they aren't.

Why this matters for the pitch: the register inverts the usual failure mode — instead of a number that might be wrong, the rep carries a discipline that can't be: confirmed facts told first, the unknown named as unknown, and the zero on the page as the proof.

3. Solar at KUB — Confirmed Mechanism, Pending Rate, Zero-Claim Discipline

Everything below distinguishes pinned from pending — that distinction IS the register.

• Pinned: the structure (TVA wholesale + MLGW markup; no statute, no retail choice, board-set terms); the DG interconnection process's existence (Schedule of Charges); the GAC tiers; GPP's closure (12/31/2019).
• Pending: MLGW's export terms (nothing published — the interconnection application packet is the likeliest home; MLGW customer service is the channel); the exact residential rate card. Until pinned: zero-claim proposals, no estimates, no pattern-guesses spoken as numbers.
• The one cohort — GPP legacy: closed end of 2019; premium contracted terms, contract-specific — read before discussing.
• The rep move: "Here's what I know from your utility's own materials, and here's what I won't guess. Confirmed: MLGW is TVA power plus the city's markup, their charge schedules document a solar interconnection process with its own fees, and solar customers in TVA territory carry the grid charge — four fifty to seven thirty-three a month. Not confirmed: what your exports earn — it's not published anywhere you or I can read — so this proposal claims zero bill savings, on purpose, and every other line on it is something you can bank. When the terms confirm, your projection updates, and since we quoted zero, whatever it shows is upside you heard about today."
• See the "Net Metering & Grandfathering Status" section for the cited detail; the flag for MLGW is ZERO-CLAIM (the most-pending in the book — rate card and export terms both pending; GPP-legacy screened; structure and charges told first).

4. Rate Reality + The Zero-Claim Math

What drives the MLGW pitch (named, honest):

1. The discipline itself. Zero on the page, by choice, with the reason printed — and in the most-pending market in our book, it's the ONLY credible artifact.
2. The ice. February 2023 is recent memory, and this city's restorations run long — the case tells itself.
3. The structure told first. TVA-plus-markup, the interconnection charges, the GAC — from our mouth, before the bill says it.

Documented vs. speculation (say this right):

• ✅ "MLGW's charge schedules document a solar interconnection process — the process is real; the export terms just aren't published" (structure, pinned)
• ✅ "The rate TVA pays is being confirmed — so this proposal claims zero savings, on purpose" (the register)
• ✅ "The interconnection carries its own charges — confirmed exactly at application — and the grid charge is four fifty to seven thirty-three a month; you're hearing both from me" (charges first)
• ✅ "If you were in Green Power Providers, your terms are your contract's — I'll read it before we talk economics" (the screen)
• ✅ "When the rate confirms, your projection updates — and since we quoted zero, it updates upward" (disclosed upside)
• ❌ Estimating MLGW's export terms OR rate card aloud (both pending — the most-pending market in the book)
• ❌ Any savings figure, range, or "typically saves" in this territory until the tool carries a confirmed rate
• ❌ Saying "net metering" or implying exports offset the bill (nothing published supports it — and the TVA pattern runs the other way)
• ❌ Turning "terms will confirm" into deadline pressure (disclosed upside is a structure, not a countdown)
• ❌ Inventing MLGW-specific storm counts (the Feb 2023 ice storm is cited as a regional event — pattern-and-event framing only)
• ❌ Claiming a battery removes the fee or the GAC, inventing programs, or promising a tax exemption

5. Incentives & Programs

• Tennessee programs: none for batteries. No VPP routes any of our hardware in Tennessee. No battery rebate. TVA EnergyRight's residential program is smart-thermostat demand response — never battery income.
• Taxes, honestly: sales tax ~9.25% combined applies — no exemption found, priced in. No property-tax exemption found. No state income tax means no state credit exists. Federal ITC: expired 12/31/2025. Never quote 30%.
• The value is resilience + rate-position + the takeover — the zero-claim register, stated as exactly that.

6. System Rescue Value — The System Takeover

This applies to any customer with existing solar — and it's identical across every Top Tier market. These are takeover facts, not TX-specific.

The Orphaned Solar Customer Problem. Many Texas solar customers installed during the 2019–2024 growth years and now face:

• An original installer that's gone out of business, been acquired, or stopped servicing residential (especially common after the federal tax credit expired Dec 2025)
• A 10-year workmanship warranty that's unenforceable (installer is gone)
• An inverter approaching or past typical failure windows
• No service relationship, and most companies refuse to service systems they didn't install

The Inverter Failure Reality. Inverters are the weakest link. Panels last 25–30 years; the inverter fails much sooner.

• SolarEdge string inverters: 8–15 years (12-yr standard warranty)
• Enphase microinverters: 10–20 years (25-yr warranty)
• Industry-wide: 70–90% of systems experience inverter failure within the panel lifespan
• When it fails on an orphaned system: production stops, bills jump to full retail, most providers won't quote it, out-of-pocket replacement is $3,500–5,000, and the customer is down 4–8 weeks.

What Top Tier's takeover provides (formalized through a Service Warranty Agreement with a brand-new 10-year Limited Workmanship and Roof Penetration Warranty):

• A new 10-year Top Tier workmanship warranty (regardless of system age)
• Manufacturer warranty claim handling (Top Tier chases the claim + labor, not the customer)
• Inverter replacement coverage when it fails within manufacturer warranty (customer pays nothing for the work)
• Single point of contact; monitoring setup help; performance verification at inspection

The $11K System Takeover Bundle (the exact 5-tile bundle on the proposal):

How to use it: "On top of the bill math, you're picking up over $11K of bundled services that aren't sold separately. If your inverter fails in year 12, the warranty handling alone is worth a few hundred; the replacement coordination saves $3–5K; the Align contract is $1,500 you'd otherwise pay. It adds up."

Align Solar Protection — the terms (get these right):

• 5-year term, $0 deductible, insurance-backed by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, non-transferable to subsequent owners.
• Covers: mechanical breakdown of existing PV (panels, inverters/optimizers, racking) — parts, labor, service calls.
• Does NOT cover: the new battery (own warranty), wear-and-tear, weather/hail, pre-existing conditions, roof issues.
• Age limits: panels/microinverters under 15 years; string/central inverters under 7 years. Not every system fully qualifies — disclose at inspection.
• It's ONE of three layers: (1) equipment manufacturer warranties, (2) Top Tier's 10-yr workmanship, (3) the 5-yr Align contract. Never call it "full coverage."
• NEVER say: "Everything's covered" / "never worry again" / "Align is your full coverage" / "you can extend beyond 5 years" / "Align transfers when you sell."

Quantifying the rescue value:

This is independent of bill savings — the rescue alone can be worth $4,000–7,500.

7. Outage Reality — The Ice City

Why outages happen here. Memphis's signature outage drivers are documented and remembered:

• Ice storms — the February 2023 ice storm was significant across the region and is recent memory in every Memphis neighborhood (MLGW-specific counts unconfirmed — the event is the claim, and it's enough).
• Wind events riding the river corridor — straight-line lines through mature-tree neighborhoods.
• Historically long restorations — MLGW's restoration timelines have historically run long; the pattern is documented, and it's the honest multiplier on every event above.

What a battery does — and the honest mechanism. Grid-tied solar shuts off automatically in an outage. A battery with backup keeps essential loads running — refrigerator, medical devices, connectivity, heat or cooling circuits by season — and recharges from solar daily through restoration.

How to pitch it honestly: "February 2023 iced this city over, and Memphis knows what a long restoration feels like better than most towns its size — and every solar roof here shuts off with the first downed line. Whatever your utility ends up paying for exports, backup is the part of the job a battery does that no rate touches — and right now, it's the part we're selling."

8. Hidden Costs Avoided / What You Own vs What You Rent

• What you rent: TVA-class power with a grid charge attached, and export terms nobody has published where you can read them.
• What you own (with the battery): power that never gets metered, purchased, or surcharged — and a house that runs through the ice while the block waits.
• Hidden costs avoided: the $11K takeover bundle + every multi-day restoration's real costs — spoiled food, lost connectivity, hotel nights.

9. Battery Products

• Backup config (the point — the resilience case is the bill case, for now): Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh; Redline: $20,500), FranklinWH aPower 2 (15 kWh; Redline: $20,500). Not compatible with HDM.

• Self-consumption config: Enphase IQ 5P (10 kWh; Redline: $15,500 SC / $17,600 BU), SolarEdge Home Battery (9.7 kWh usable; Redline: $14,500 SC / $16,000 BU), SolarEdge Nexis (self-consumption only pending crew backup training; Redline: $15,500 SC).

• MLGW takeaway: no VPP routes hardware anywhere in Tennessee — selection is about backup depth for a multi-day ice event in a long-restoration city, said plainly. Whatever the terms confirm to, deeper storage means more self-supply — but capacity is sized to the resilience case, never to unconfirmed terms. Confirm config and GPP status in the tool.

• Financing terms vary by lender — price deals through the proposal tool.

10. Objection Handling

Universal objections (swap in MLGW context) + MLGW-specific objections.

"Why does your proposal show zero savings?" (MLGW-specific — THE register objection; the answer is the pitch)

"Because your utility publishes less about solar than any major utility we work with — the interconnection process is in their charge schedules, but the export terms aren't anywhere you or I can read — and this company doesn't put numbers on paper it hasn't verified. Everyone else in this market will hand you a spreadsheet built on a guess. Ours shows zero, tells you why, and stands on the things that are true no matter what the terms turn out to be: backup power in the city that iced over in 2023 and knows what a long restoration feels like, insulation from the rate curve on the power you keep buying, and one accountable company behind your whole system. When MLGW's terms confirm, your projection updates — upward, because we quoted the floor. You'll never get a call from us walking a number back."

"Can't you just estimate what my exports earn?" (MLGW-specific — the no-guess answer)

"I could, and I won't — that's the whole discipline. TVA-territory arrangements tend to run sub-retail or uncompensated, but 'tends to' isn't your number, and the difference between a guess and a verified figure is the difference between a pitch and a promise. Here's what I'll give you instead of an estimate: the structure, confirmed — TVA power plus the city's markup, an interconnection process with real charges, and a grid fee on solar customers — which means stored power you use yourself beats exporting structurally, whatever the terms say. The size of 'beats' is what we're pinning. The direction is already certain."

"I was in the Green Power Providers program — what does that mean for me?" (the GPP-screen answer)

"It means you hold contracted premium terms from a program that closed at the end of 2019 — and it means your economics live in your contract, not in anyone's template. Before we talk numbers at all, we read your paperwork together. What I can tell you contract-blind: your panels still shut off in every outage, this is still East Tennessee, and the takeover still answers who services your system. The rest waits for your contract, as it should."

"Is there a rebate or tax break?" (the full-honesty answer)

"Here's the complete list, straight: no Tennessee battery rebate, no VPP program that takes our hardware anywhere in this state, no state income tax credit — there's no state income tax to credit against — and the federal credit expired at the end of last year. And one more piece most quotes hide: sales tax here is about nine and a quarter percent, it applies to this equipment, and it's in the price I show you. Add the interconnection charges and the grid fee, both of which I've already told you about. The math that's left is the real math — and in this territory, we're honest enough to show you a zero where other people would show you a guess."

"Why is the loan more than the system price?"

"The cash price is $17,000–18,500 depending on config. Service Finance adds dealer fees bringing the financed amount to about $22,068–23,942. Cash or a HELOC is cheaper if that's an option. There's no rebate here and the federal credit expired — what the payment buys is backup in a region that needs it, the takeover, and over $11K in warranty, service, and inverter coverage — plus whatever the export confirmation adds, disclosed today as exactly that."

11. DO SAY / NEVER SAY

12. Required Disclosures

• MLGW's rooftop solar export compensation terms and current residential rate schedule have not been confirmed from primary sources (MLGW's published Schedule of Charges documents a distributed-generation interconnection process but no export compensation terms); this proposal therefore claims no bill savings. Projections show the with-battery bill unchanged, with this explanation displayed, and will be updated when terms are confirmed.
• The battery's represented value in this territory is backup power, protection against retail-rate increases on purchased energy, and the system takeover; no export-derived or savings-derived value is claimed.
• MLGW's distributed-generation interconnection process carries charges documented in its Schedule of Charges, confirmed at application. Distributed-generation customers in TVA territory pay the Grid Access Charge ($4.50/month at or below 500 kWh average usage; $7.33/month for 501–2,000 kWh; additional tiers may apply). A battery removes neither.
• Customers with legacy TVA Green Power Providers contracts (program closed December 31, 2019) hold individually contracted terms; no battery economics are discussed for GPP participants until their contract terms are confirmed from their documents.
• No Tennessee battery rebate, VPP program, or state tax credit exists; no program income is quoted. Tennessee sales tax applies to solar and battery equipment with no identified exemption and is included in quoted pricing. No federal ITC after 12/31/2025.
• Storm references cite the February 2023 regional ice storm as an event and MLGW's historically extended restoration timelines as a documented pattern; no MLGW-specific outage figures are represented. Backup duration depends on system sizing and load, and whole-home coverage through a multi-day event is not implied.
• Align Solar Protection is non-transferable; workmanship warranty transfer requires written consent; manufacturer warranties transfer per OEM terms. Align coverage is contingent on inspection + age limits (panels <15 yr, inverters <7 yr).
• Pricing confirmed in the tool before commitment.

13. Quick-Reference Numbers (dated — confirm before quoting)

• THE REGISTER: ZERO-CLAIM — export rate unconfirmed → proposals show $0 savings with the explainer; NO estimates, NO ranges, NO "typically saves" — the zero IS the pitch
• Structure (CONFIRMED): TVA wholesale + MLGW markup; largest 3-service muni in the US; DG interconnection process EXISTS (Schedule of Charges — specifics at application)
• Export terms: UNCONFIRMED — nothing published; never say "net metering"; the MOST-PENDING market in the book
• Confirmed charge (told FIRST): GAC $4.50 (≤500 kWh avg) / $7.33 (501–2,000) — battery does NOT remove it
• Retail: being pinned — tool carries the working figure, flagged (TVA-LPC class ~12¢ = context, never a quote)
• THE SCREEN: GPP question FIRST — legacy (pre-2020) contract terms READ before any economics
• Structure: TVA wholesale + monopoly LPC; NO retail choice; NO state statute; NO sunset (GPP closure 12/31/2019 = history + screen, never urgency)
• Programs: NONE — no VPP in TN, no rebate, no state credit | Taxes: sales tax ~9.25% APPLIES (priced in); no property exemption found; federal ITC expired 12/31/2025
• The upside structure: confirmation = disclosed upside ("we quoted the floor") — a structure, NEVER a countdown
• Inverter replacement out-of-pocket: $3,500–5,000 | Takeover bundle: ~$11,800
• Default config: backup $18,500 / self-consumption $17,000
• Storm register: Feb 2023 ice storm (regional event, recent memory) + river-corridor wind + HISTORICALLY LONG RESTORATIONS (documented pattern) — NO MLGW-specific counts (unconfirmed)

14. Sell Hard, Sell Honest — the standing rules

• The zero is the pitch. Rendered on purpose, explained in words before the screen shows it — the most credible artifact in the territory.
• No estimates, ever. "Tends to run low" is not a number; the discipline is what separates this proposal from every guess-built spreadsheet in the market.
• The structure is quoted; the terms are pinned or silent — TVA-plus-markup and the charge schedule's process, nothing more.
• The charges go first — the interconnection's own fees and the GAC, from our mouth.
• The GPP question opens the appointment — contract terms are read, not guessed.
• The confirmation is upside, never urgency — "we quoted the floor" is a structure, and turning it into a countdown breaks the register.
• The ice carries the close — February 2023 and the long-restoration truth, no invented counts.
• The no-program list and the tax truth are given in full, unprompted. Never quote the federal ITC (expired).