Duncan Hands Off TVA Chairmanship; Board Selects Bottorff As Successor

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Apr 16, 2010, 11:15 ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After serving as chairman for a year, Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors Chairman Mike Duncan asked the Board on Friday to select a new chairman, citing his new duties as leader of a recently formed national political fund-raising organization. The Board voted unanimously to name Director Dennis Bottorff of Nashville as TVA's new chairman.

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"I recently have taken on some additional responsibilities that I also believe are extremely important," Duncan told the TVA Board. "I will be helping to lead the efforts of an organization called American Crossroads, which I believe will become an important player in American politics. When I joined TVA, as you know, I was general counsel of the Republican National Committee and I have always felt a duty to take part in the American system of government when I see that I have an opportunity to make a difference."

Duncan, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee who also is chairman and chief executive of Inez Deposit Bank in Inez, Ky., said the new fund-raising post "will require much of my personal time and attention," and, because the TVA chairmanship also requires significant time, "I am asking my fellow TVA Board members today to accept my decision to step down as chairman, while still remaining on the Board."

Bottorff, who will take over as TVA chairman on May 18, is chairman and partner of Council Ventures, a Nashville venture capital firm. He was chairman of AmSouth Bancorporation in Nashville until his retirement in 2001 and previously was chief executive officer of First American Bank.

"The energy industry is changing in profound ways that will require major capital investments and different ways of doing business," Bottorff said. "The new environmental regulations that are being contemplated in Washington will present enormous challenges to TVA's engineering and financial teams, along with challenges – as well as opportunities – to its leadership and employees. I hope I am able to help TVA's senior management team, and my fellow Board members, provide the leadership that we will need to navigate these critical times."

The TVA Board also adopted a resolution honoring the service of Executive Vice President and General Counsel Maureen Dunn, who is retiring after 32 years with TVA.

"TVA is a better company because of Maureen Dunn and her leadership," President and Chief Executive Tom Kilgore said. "I have been amazed by her phenomenal knowledge of TVA legal issues, her amazing capacity to work these issues on TVA's behalf, and the integrity and passion of her work ethic. She has influenced so many aspects of TVA that it is difficult to quantify the impact Maureen has had on the agency."

Deputy General Counsel Ralph Rodgers, who has nearly 30 years of TVA service, was named acting general counsel.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia – an area of 80,000 square miles with a population of 9 million. TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams, 11 coal-fired power plants, three nuclear plants and 11 natural gas-fired power facilities and supplies up to 36,000 megawatts of electricity, delivered over 16,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. TVA also provides flood control, navigation, land management and recreation for the Tennessee River system and works with local utilities and state and local governments to promote economic development across the region. TVA, which makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money, is funded by sales of electricity to its customers. Electricity prices in TVA's service territory are below the national average. www.tva.com/news

SOURCE Tennessee Valley Authority