TVA will not prohibit local utilities from providing service to medical marijuana dispensaries

Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley says TVA must provide service to legal businesses

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – The Tennessee Valley Authority says local utilities who purchase electricity from TVA can serve medical marijuana businesses.

Last week, TVA sent out a statement saying local utilities would be forbidden from providing electricity to businesses that will provide medical marijuana.

In the statement, TVA said there were conflicts with the recently passed Mississippi law and federal laws.

Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley was contacted by representatives from local utilities and other concerned citizens.

On Thursday, Presley said TVA is required to provide electricity to local utilities and cannot forbid those utilities to serve any legitimate customers.

” Our local utilities, under Mississippi law, have an obligation to serve any legitimate business and to give service once it’s applied for, and I want to be clear, our local utilities agree with that, they were not resisting, they were looking forward to serving any facility that came into their area, but the TVA statement sent out a ton of confusion,” Presley said.

TVA also released a statement on Thursday saying they will continue to serve their customers.  The statement also said the issue is complex and represents a conflict between state and federal law.