Potential candidates jockey for TVA board
WASHINGTON — The five open seats on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors aren’t the most high-profile jobs awaiting the attention of President Donald Trump, who has yet to fill hundreds of top-tier positions across his administration.
But in Tennessee, where interest in the TVA jobs is high, prospective candidates already have been working quietly behind the scenes to get their names on the list of potential nominees for the public utility’s board.
TENNESSEE INTEREST HIGH
Reps. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, and Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, both said they have been contacted by several people interested in one of the five open seats on the nine-member board. Duncan said one man even approached him in church one Sunday to say he was available and willing to serve.
Sen. Lamar Alexander’s office also said several Tennesseans have expressed interest in the positions, and all were instructed to submit their applications to Trump’s team. Alexander and Sen. Bob Corker will recommend candidates for the positions, and Alexander’s office said interviews with applicants already have begun.
Corker said the two senators already have submitted their recommendations.
“Senator Alexander and I submitted our recommendations to the White House earlier this year,” Corker said. “We remain in close contact with the administration and have urged them to make nominations to fill out the board very soon.”
State Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, confirmed in an interview with the USA Today Network-Tennessee that he applied for one of the seats.
Knoxville attorney Jeff Hagood, Oak Ridge National Laboratory executive Jeff Smith and former Virginia state Sen. William C. Wampler, the nephew of former U.S. Sen. Howard Baker and the son of a former Republican congressman, also have been in touch with Congress members about serving on the board.
WHEN WILL TRUMP NAME NOMINEES?
Trump is unlikely to name his first nominee to the board until September at the earliest. That would put him on the same pace as former President Barack Obama, who faced four vacancies on the TVA board after taking office in January 2009 but waited until September of that year to make his first two appointments.
But Republicans in Congress are eager for Trump to begin filling the TVA jobs, not only because he will be able to reshape the panel with a GOP majority, but also because of the utility’s importance to the economy of Tennessee and other parts of the South.
TVA, headquartered in Knoxville, is the nation’s largest public utility and serves 9 million people in parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
“TVA, to me, is so critically important to our entire region,” Fleischmann said.
TVA not only provides affordable power to the region, he said, it is also important to help attract business development and growth.
THREE SEATS VACANT SINCE LAST YEAR
Three of the TVA seats that need to be filled have been vacant since the end of last year, when Joe Ritch of Alabama, Mike McWherter of Tennessee and Pete Mahurin of Kentucky exited the board.
All three served terms that expired in May 2016. Obama renominated them for another term, but the Senate never confirmed their reappointments.
Under the board rules, members are allowed to remain on the board until their successor is confirmed or until the end of the year, whichever comes first. As result, Ritch, McWherter and Mahurin continued to serve until the end of 2016.
The other seats that need to be filled became vacant in May, when the terms of Lynn Evans of Memphis and Marilyn Brown of Georgia expired. Both continue to serve until their successors’ confirmation or until the end of the year.
In an interview, Ragan said Corker’s office told him several people had applied for the positions. Ragan said he submitted his application late, so it’s doubtful he would be one of Trump’s first nominees. But he said he wants to serve because TVA holds a special interest for his district and for him personally.
“I think energy is the key to a prosperous economy, both for Tennessee and the nation,” Ragan said. “Having reliable, readily available and cheap energy is the key to job growth and prosperity.”
Hagood declined to discuss his interest in TVA or his conversations with members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation about serving on the board. Smith also declined to comment, through a spokesman.