Trump nominates 4 for TVA board

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — President Donald Trump will nominate people from four states to serve on the nine-member board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the White House said Thursday.

Trump will name Kenneth E. Allen of Kentucky and James R. Thompson III of Alabama for terms that expire in 2021. Allen is retired from the Armstrong Energy coal company; Thompson is a corporate billing executive with the Birmingham-based National Bank of Commerce.

The president also will nominate A.D. Frazier of Georgia and Jeffrey Smith of Tennessee for board positions that expire in 2022, according to a White House statement. Frazier is president emeritus of Georgia Oak Partners, an Atlanta-based investment and acquisition company. Smith is deputy director of operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Citing Allen's experience providing "affordable and reliable energy" in the region, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would recommend swift confirmation of the appointment.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Smith's time at Oak Ridge made him "especially pleased" about the nomination.

"Jeff has a unique understanding of the importance of TVA, and I know he is eager to give back to the region he calls home. I am glad to recommend him to my colleagues for swift confirmation," Corker said in a statement.

TVA is the nation's largest public utility. It provides electricity to about 9 million people in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

TVA chief executive Bill Johnson said having new viewpoints on the board would help the agency as it works to provide cleaner energy at the lowest feasible cost while promoting economic growth in the region.