A federally owned utility company that recently stirred controversy after signaling that it might refuse to provide wholesale electrical services to state-legal marijuana businesses clarified on Thursday that it won\u2019t be taking such action. At the same time, it is seeking federal guidance on the matter.<\/p>\n
Advocates, congressional lawmakers and a key Mississippi regulator condemned the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for suggesting that it might turn off the lights on cannabis facilities<\/a> operating lawfully under state policy. The prior statement from TVA, which cited federal obligations to uphold prohibition, came days after Mississippi\u2019s governor signed into law a bill to legalize medical cannabis<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n TVA is a main supplier of electricity to the Mississippi\u2019s northern region.<\/p>\n But now TVA said<\/a> in a clarifying statement on Thursday that it has \u201can obligation to serve our customers with safe, reliable, low-cost energy and we will continue to do so. There will be no interruption in service because of this newly signed law.\u201d<\/p>\n Here is our clarifying statement in response to the recently signed Mississippi law approving the growth and use of medical cannabis\/marijuana. pic.twitter.com\/bkbQHJEImW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tennessee Valley Authority (@TVAnews) February 10, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cThe broader issue is a complex one and represents a conflict between state and federal law,\u201d TVA said. \u201cWe are looking to the appropriate federal agencies for further clarification and have requested additional guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur service to our customers remains unchanged and we will continue to carry out our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This statement comes on the same day that Mississippi Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley weighed in on the situation, as SuperTalk Mississippi Media first reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch confusion has ensued in the past week due to a statement sent out by the Tennessee Valley Authority intimating that local electric utilities who buy power from the TVA would not be able to provide electricity to a licensed medical marijuana facility due to possible conflicts with federal law,\u201d Presley said. \u201cTVA\u2019s statement has already caused some medical marijuana facilities to look at other areas of the state and therefore possibly denying North Mississippians the benefits of the newly passed medical marijuana program.\u201d<\/p>\n Please see my attached statement on the serving of electricity to medical marijuana facilities in North MS. Our region of the state shouldn\u2019t be denied participation in this legal, licensed program because of confusion. State law is clear that these facilities should be served. pic.twitter.com\/vQdo5Vciqc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Brandon Presley (@BrandonPresley) February 10, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The news of TVA\u2019s original statement on the issue was first picked up locally by The Daily Journal before being spotlighted by national outlets like the Associated Press and Marijuana Moment. Two congressional lawmakers\u2014Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Steve Cohen (D-TN)\u2014cited Marijuana Moment\u2019s reporting in a statement condemning the utility\u2019s position<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Mississippi joined 36 other states in legalizing cannabis for medical use, TVA is reportedly threatening to turn in Mississippi’s legal cannabis businesses to federal agents. These policies are outdated, unpopular and scientifically baseless and that’s what I told @TVAnews<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/wpWSn5ATF2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) February 10, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Cohen told Marijuana Moment on Thursday that he\u2019s \u201cglad TVA will serve lawful business and not place a never before presented obstacle to medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n In an earlier\u00a0 letter to TVA Chairman Chairman William Kilbride that was sent on Wednesday, he and Blumenauer said they feel \u201cdeep concern\u201d over the utility\u2019s statement, which details \u201cplans to have the agency deputize its employees to attempt to enforce outdated and scientifically baseless federal cannabis policies against state-legal cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Presley said in the new statement that it is \u201ca long-held principle in state law that electric utilities have an obligation to serve customers without discrimination. A licensed medical marijuana facility under Mississippi is no different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is my position that any licensed medical marijuana facility should be served with electricity upon application and request,\u201d the official, who is the former president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said. \u201cOnce power is delivered by the TVA to a local utility, TVA\u2019s oversight ends and controlled state law and Public Service Commission statutes ensure that these facilities should be served with electricity like any other licensed business.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Mississippi\u2019s move to legalize medical cannabis, TVA said in a public statement that while it is under contract to provide wholesale services to local power companies, which are regulated at the state level, federal law means that its \u201cresources and funds may not be purposely used to facilitate activity that potentially violates federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGiven this important point, TVA will not direct any federal resources or funds to the cultivation and\/or distribution of marijuana,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n The utility said its employees will report to management if they find that a local power company is using TVA services to provide electricity to state-legal cannabis businesses, and management \u201cwill make a determination regarding our reporting obligations to agencies that may have proper jurisdiction to enforce the federal Controlled Substances Act.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the situation earlier this week, Cohen separately told Marijuana Moment that TVA \u201cshould not discriminate against legal businesses that need utilities,\u201d and the company \u201cneeds all the business they could get as their rates are way too high already and many want to leave TVA.\u201d<\/p>\n South Carolina Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Officially Approved In Senate, Heads For House Consideration<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Federally Owned Utility Company Walks Back Threat To Block Electricity For Marijuana Businesses<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A federally owned utility company that recently stirred controversy after signaling that it might refuse to provide wholesale electrical services to state-legal marijuana businesses clarified on Thursday that it won\u2019t be taking such action. At the same time, it is seeking federal guidance on the matter. Advocates, congressional lawmakers andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52844"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52845,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52844\/revisions\/52845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Federally Owned Utility Company Walks Back Threat To Block Electricity For Marijuana Businesses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"