Memphis Light, Gas and Water

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Memphis Light, Gas and Water is the nation’s largest three-service municipal utility, serving more than 420,000 customers. Since 1939, MLGW has met the utility needs of Memphis and Shelby County residents by delivering reliable and affordable electricity, natural gas and water service.

MLGW is supplied with electricity by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal agency that sells electricity on a nonprofit basis to its distributors. MLGW is TVA's largest customer, representing 11 percent of TVA's total load. There are nearly 420,000 electric customers.

Natural gas is the most popular means of residential heating in the MLGW service area. MLGW provides natural gas to more than 313,000 of its customers in Shelby County.

Memphis water is one of the area’s greatest natural resources. While other utilities obtain drinking water from surface lakes or rivers, Memphians enjoy the unique privilege of water derived from an aquifer that sits beneath Shelby County. The Memphis aquifer contains more than 100 trillion gallons of water that fell to earth as long as 2000 years ago.

MLGW operates one of the largest artesian well systems in the world. It is through this system that MLGW taps into the aquifer and delivers water to more than 253,000 customers. MLGW operates 10 water pumping stations and more than 175 wells throughout Shelby County.

MLGW ensures the quality and safety of its water by filtering, adding chlorine, and conducting more than 38,000 tests every year.