David Wade, CEO, Chattanooga EPB
David Wade, CEO of Chattanooga EPB, was selected to receive the 2024 Richard C. Crawford Distinguished Service Award (DSA). The award was presented during TVPPA’s 78th Annual Conference in Savannah, Ga.
Established in 1980 and renamed in 2004 to honor retiring TVPPA President and CEO Dick Crawford, the award honors any CEO or General Manager of a TVPPA member system who has been active in TVPPA, as well as other Valley electric utility activities, and meets these criteria:
- Exceptional leadership and service contributions to TVPPA and to consumer-owned power locally and in the Tennessee Valley region;
- Unusual devotion to duty;
- Recognition by the nominee’s peers;
- Contribution to the betterment of the community and the Tennessee Valley region.
Wes Kelley, President and CEO of Huntsville Utilities and last year’s DSA recipient, presented Wade with TVPPA’s highest honor, noting his humble, strategic approach to leadership at Chattanooga EPB and in the Tennessee Valley.
“David’s and EPB’s success is a testament to what bold vision, sophisticated analysis, technical rigor, and pragmatism can deliver,” said Kelley. “His impressive trendsetting accomplishments were not the work of a Fortune 500 corporation executed by Ivy League professionals; they were envisioned by a humble man who led good ole’ Southern men and women, public employees motivated to do more than what was required to make their community a national star. It is an ongoing testament to FDR’s vision for the Tennessee Valley.”