President chooses five for TVA board

President chooses five for TVA board

By EDWARD LEE PITTS
STAFF WRITERS

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday nominated five candidates, including three Tennesseans, to fill most of the positions on an expanded and revamped board of directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Tennessee lawmakers praised the selections and predicted easy Senate confirmations, which are expected to take place early next year.

"These nominees bring with them the business skills and management expertise needed to run one of the nation's largest electric utilities, which was the primary goal of my legislation," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said in a statement.

Critics said that the nominees didn't include any minorities or people with professional experience in the type of energy and environmental management provided by TVA.

Steve Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Energy, questioned whether any of the nominees had any experience in the resource management and energy issues faced by TVA.

"I would think that you would want to populate the board with people who are knowledgeable about the mission of TVA," Dr. Smith said.

Last year, Congress passed legislation sponsored by Sen. Frist that reformed TVA's management structure to make it more like other corporations of similar size and scope.

It created an expanded nine-member board to set policy and select a chief executive officer to manage the agency. The nine part-time members will replace the current three-member, full-time governing board in the most significant change in TVA's governance in the agency's 72-year history.

The Tennessee nominees are Susan Richardson Williams, a Knoxville public relations expert; William B. Sansom, a Knoxville businessman, and Dennis Bottorff, a Nashville banker.

The other nominees are Howard A. Thrailkill, a retired Huntsville, Ala., businessman, and Robert "Mike" Duncan, Inez, Ky.

The nominees announced Friday would fill five of the seven board vacancies. President Bush will make two additional nominations soon. White House spokesman Blair Jones said.

Current board members Bill Baxter and Skila Harris will remain on the board as part-time members.

Mr. Baxter, the Republican board chairman who endorsed the legislation to revamp TVA's board, Friday the appointments are "exactly the kind of board that TVA needs."

"I'm very impressed by the extensive business and financial management experience they bring to the board," he said.

Ms. Harris, a Democrat who did not support the change in TVA's board structure, said she is not familiar with most of the nominees. But she said the creation of a chief executive officer at TVA will streamline and improve operations.

"Not having a single individual responsible for the overall organization has made it more difficult for our staff," she said.

The Chattanooga-based Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, the trade group that represents the 158 municipalities and cooperatives that distribute TVA power, endorsed the board appointments.

"It is my hope that as future appointees are considered, one or more board members will be chosen from Chattanooga, home of the TVA's power headquarters," Rep. Wamp said in a statement.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called Friday's announcement a good beginning.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority is a $7 billion public utility that should be run like a $7 billion business," Sen. Alexander said in a statement.

Sen. Alexander has said a significant number of board members should be Tennesseans and that future appointees are considered, one... will be chosen from Chattanooga."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., praised the nomination of Mr. Thrailkill, who would be the first Alabama resident to serve on the TVA board since the agency began in 1933.

"The appointment of an Alabamian to the TVA board was long overdue," he said in a statement.

Tennessee Environmental Council, the state's biggest environmental group, complained that the board appointments "show no indication that this administration understands or cares about the environmental stewardship role of TVA."

"From what I've seen, the five nominees made today represent nothing but partisan political payback," said Will Callaway, the council's executive director and a former Democratic candidate for Congress in Tennessee's 3rd District.

The nominees, if confirmed, would add a second female director to the TVA board. But in its 72-year history TVA had a minority on its board, and all five of the nominees are white.

"We would certainly hope that one or both of the other long-term TVA board members would be a person of color to enrich the board and TVA's perspective," said Warren Pitts, a former TVA manager and current Urban League of Greater Chattanooga president.