Six new members of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors took their oath collectively from a magistrate judge at the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse Wednesday in a historic moment for the agency that arose out of the Great Depression.
“It’s rare. It’s usually done individually in a hometown with a federal judge or someone of the director’s choosing. I’ve never experienced six being sworn in together,” TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said, following the agency’s press release about the ceremony. He’s been with TVA for 13 years.
Members of CEO Jeff Lyash’s staff pulled the group together rather fast, Hopson said. And that meant Hopson and the communications staff “scrambled” to get information together for the media about the directors, their background and quotations on being on the board. The media were not notified in advance of the ceremony.
Taking the oath from U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill E. McCook, a former TVA attorney, were Beth Geer of Brentwood; Bobby Klein, Chattanooga; Michelle Moore, Midlothian, Virginia.; Bill Renick, Ashland, Mississippi; Joe Ritch, Huntsville, Alabama; and Wade White, Eddyville, Kentucky.
For Geer, Klein and Moore, it was almost a two-year wait since first being nominated by President Joe Biden. They were re-nominated in January 2022; Renick and White were nominated in June and Ritch in July. All six were confirmed by voice vote of the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21.
The board has had nine part-time directors since 2006. Prior to that since being established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, three full-time directors ran the corporate federal agency that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven Southeastern states. It gets no appropriations from Congress and derives its revenue from sales of electricity. TVA also provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local utilities and state and local governments with economic development.
“We are delighted to have Beth, Bobby, Michelle, Bill, Joe, and Wade join the TVA team during this challenging but exciting period,” TVA Board Chair Bill Kilbride said in the release. “They each bring diverse perspectives and experience to the Board that will help guide TVA as it plans for the future while entering its 90th year of service to the region.” The term of Kilbride, a former Chamber and business executive in Chattanooga, expires in May although he can serve until the end of the year if not reappointed or replaced.
With the swearing in of the six members, the board is at a full complement after being threatened with not having a quorum at the end of 2022 with various members whose terms had ended. The board last year even approved a budget outside of a public board meeting and approved certain duties to be given to the CEO to be exercised if needed.
Other board members are former state House Speaker Beth Harwell, Nashville, and East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland, Johnson City.
Hopson said one reason the agency was trying to get board members sworn in quickly is that four board subcommittees are scheduled to begin meeting later this month, with all members on at least one subcommittee. The four subcommittees are audit, finance, risk and cybersecurity; operations and nuclear oversight; external stakeholders and regulation, currently chaired by Harwell; and people and governance, currently chaired by Nolan.
Ritch, who previously served on the TVA board and as chairman, said in a statement for this columnist, “My first experience with TVA was so rewarding that I am very honored to be asked to again be part of what I believe to be one of the most impressive federal organizations I’ve worked with over the years. The quality of the people gives me great confidence that TVA will continue making positive impacts on our region.” He is an attorney with the firm of Dentons Sirote in Huntsville and serves as chairman of the Redstone Regional Alliance.
The board’s next quarterly business meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 16, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
∎ JILL’S TURN: U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill McCook, selected in October to succeed Magistrate Judge H. Bruce Guyton, will have an official investiture at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, in the ceremonial courtroom on the fourth floor of the Baker Courthouse. The swearing in will be conducted by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas A. Varlan.
McCook was a TVA attorney for three years. She previously was a law clerk to Varlan and was an attorney with law firms Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowotz and Greenberg Taurig. Guyton retired in January.
∎ NEWS ON GORE FAMILY: Albert Gore III, son of former Vice President Al Gore Jr. and Tipper Gore, is the new executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, an industry-backed coalition advocating for full adoption of electric vehicles by 2030. Gore Jr. also was a Democratic U.S. senator from Tennessee.
Gore III previously spent seven years at Tesla, most recently as the lead for public policy and business development in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S., and was deputy director of policy and electricity markets at SolarCity prior to its acquisition by the company. He also served as vice president of business development at Strategic Capital Partners, a commercial real estate investment and development firm.
He lives with his wife and three children in Arlington, Virginia., and has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s in government from Harvard University.
∎ MEDICAID FORUM: A four-person panel will discuss why Medicaid should be expanded in 2023 by the Tennessee Legislature at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Jan. 17, from 7-9 p.m. at Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge.
The speakers will be Dr. William Culbert, a board-certified family physician; Judy Roitman, executive director, Tennessee Health Care Campaign; the Rev. Derrick Hammond, pastor, Oak Valley Baptist Church; and Dr. Matthew C. Harris, professor of economics and health care at the University of Tennessee. Moderator will be Zack Buck, associate professor of law specializing in health law, bioethics and tort law at UT.
The Tennessee League of Women Voters’ agenda for 2023 is supporting TennCare expansion for adults ages 19-64 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level and/or federal options in the Affordable Care Act.
Co-sponsors of the forum include the Oak Ridge and Tennessee chapters of the American Association of University Women; National Alliance of Mental Illness – Oak Ridge; New Direction Health Care Solution; Service Employees International Union, Local 205; Tennessee Health Care Campaign; Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge; Tennessee Disability Coalition; Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville; National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter; Knox/Oak Ridge Central Labor Council; Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge; and Interfaith Worker Justice of East Tennessee.
For those wanting to attend by Zoom, the email for the link is maryannreeves1@att.net.
Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.