McMinnville Electric System has entered into $9.6 million 10-year contract to supply electrical power to Tennessee Valley Authority.“TVA has been our partner for almost 75 years,” said MES general manager and CEO Rodney Boyd. “We appreciate the relationship MES has with TVA, and that relationship has once again proven to be beneficial to MES, TVA, and most importantly, our customers.”MES made history in 2001 by becoming one of the first municipal electric systems in the entire seven-state TVA territory to be both a distributor and supplier of electrical power to TVA through the 11 two-megawatt generators at the Carl Walker Substation on Cadillac Lane. At the time, a 12-year agreement was signed.On Aug. 22, 2013, after many weeks of negotiation with TVA, multiple contract drafts, and numerous Research and Development Committee meetings, a 10-year agreement was reached allowing MES to continue providing standby/ emergency/ peak power to TVA.Research and Development Committee chairman Dr. Jeff McKinley says the agreement is a $9.6 million benefit to the local economy, as well as a helping hand in keeping electricity rates low in McMinnville.“As demand for electricity is flattening and the cost of generation is rising, the timing of this agreement for MES customers could not have been better,” McKinley said.