Why should We, in Lowndes County, have to buy our electricity from Georgia Power when we could produce it Ourselves?

John Quarterman's post at On the LAKE Front, entitled "Tesla opening market for home solar batteries," inspired this response:

It would be great if we could build the network from the bottom up, beginning with individual property parcels, i.e. your home and land, especially in a combination of production and storage. There is no valid reason individuals should not be able to produce electricity and sell it on the open market, just like the big boys do. There should be no impediment to a farmer that would like to plant a field of solar panels, and reap the fruit of it, or an entrepreneur that stores power than sells it back, and makes a profit. Sounds like the ultimate in free enterprise to me.

Additionally, I believe communities should have the freedom to do this. I have often said Lowndes County could easily supply it's own electricity, along with selling excess on the open market, to such an extent that it could eliminate the need for certain taxes, or provide much more in services to its citizens. The citizens could set their own electrical rates in one model, even zero. Why should we, in Lowndes County, have to buy our electricity from Georgia Power, when we could produce it ourselves? Are we free, or a colony of some sort?