News

The Tennessee Valley Lineman Rodeo Board of Directors made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 rodeo. Because of ongoing uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board agreed they could not protect participants nor attendees from the potential spread of...

TVPPA’s Valley Rally, the organization’s annual visit to Washington, D.C. to help keep the interests of members in front of their legislative representatives, will take on a different look this year. Amidst the uncertainty around ongoing pandemic-related operational...

Safety. Reliability. Workforce Development. System Improvement. All TVPPA members strive to achieve these every day but twenty-one of our members have been recognized on a national level for excelling in each of these areas. Eleven power utilities in the Tennessee...

All technical and business development courses scheduled through May have been suspended with the intent to reschedule within the 2020 calendar year. Registrants will be notified of new class dates as soon as they are available. Classes beginning June 1 or later...

The first quarterly issue of TVPPA Magazine has a new look and a new format. The magazine, which  features thought-provoking content about timely topics in the Tennessee Valley, is now available in both a traditional format and a digital edition. “A supplement to the...

EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) will host its second Distribution Operations Practices WebEx event on Thursday, March 26 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. This webinar is part of an ongoing series of webcasts facilitated and hosted by EPRI to provide access to the latest...

TVPPA members will now have access to a COVID-19 Response Plan Repository which can be found on the home screen after logging in on the Members Only section of the website. TVPPA created this space for member utilities to share resource planning documents, action...

TVPPA has launched a COVID-19 Response Forum for its membership. Here members can discuss how their organizations are responding to this pandemic, ask questions, and share resources. This forum is made available in addition to the COVID-19 Resources Repository created...

Convening on March 16, 2020 in an abbreviated, virtual session, the TVPPA Board of Directors took up a slate of business that included announcing committee formations, approving committee nominations, addressing the potential impact of COVID-19; and the review of...

Mary McDuffa, a twenty-five year veteran of Florence Electricity Department, has been named Manager following the retirement of Richard Morrissey. McDuffa began her career at Florence ED as a co-op student from Auburn University. She most recently served as Senior...

TVPPA’s R&D Committee developed a Health Epidemic Manual for members to use when a potential health crisis strikes. COVID-19 was not a consideration when the planning template was developed in 2010, but the manual addresses a variety of viruses and other communicable...

Mark Malone, a 26-year veteran of Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative has taken over as general manager of the north Alabama utility. Having served as the cooperative’s chief financial officer prior to his promotion, Malone plans to continue the same trajectory of...

Stacey White was named as the new general manager of Arab Electric Cooperative in January. White, who has been with the cooperative for 10 years, had served as the executive in charge since Scott Spence resigned from Arab EC in August to become the president and CEO...

High speed broadband will soon be available to areas of western Kentucky and western Tennessee thanks to a $31.9 Million low interest loan Gibson Electric Membership Cooperative received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program. Gibson EMC – and its...

“We are better together in this time of unprecedented change.” That is the message that kicked off TVPPA President & CEO Doug Peters’ report to the association at the 2020 All Member Meeting, held February 5 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The gathering of 144 managers...

The Murfreesboro, Tenn., City Council voted 6-1 on Thursday, Jan. 9 to sell Murfreesboro ED (MED) to Middle Tennessee EMC (MTEMC). The vote clears the way for MTEMC, also based in Murfreesboro, to buy its municipal counterpart for $202 million to be paid over 15 years...

The TVPPA Board of Directors took a number of actions in its final quarterly meeting of 2019, including a vote to approve TVPPA’s 2020 budget. Meeting Dec. 9 in Chattanooga, the board also: • Approved two requests from the TVPPA Rates & Pricing Committee; one changed...

What started out as a routine run for three Athens, Tenn., UB linemen turned out to be anything but. Athens UB journeymen Abe Aziz, Josh Finnell and Dickie Slack were headed out to replace street lights Nov. 27 when they saw a house engulfed in flames – and another...

Mike Partin, president & CEO at Sequachee Valley EC, South Pittsburg, Tenn., has been elected to the NRECA Board of Directors. Partin was elected Nov. 25 in Nashville, at the TECA Annual Meeting. He succeeds Tom Purkey of Middle Tennessee EMC, Murfreesboro, Tenn., who...

C. Leslie Gwin, retired general manager at Pickwick EC, Selmer, Tenn., died Nov. 9 at his Collierville, Tenn., home. He was 87. Born in New Orleans, Gwin earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Tulane University. He obtained a Professional...

Tony Kirk, the vice president and CFO at Bolivar, Tenn., EA for the past decade, is scheduled to succeed retiring president & CEO Johnny Fortune at year’s end. With his retirement, Fortune closes the book on a career of nearly 41 years at Bolivar EA, including more...

In addressing the 2019 Seven States Power Corp. Annual Meeting, conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Randy Boyd laid his cards squarely on the table. “I like to think that ORNL is the best national lab in this country,” said the University of...

TVPPA and Seven States Power Corp. aren’t in the business of selling cars – just offering great deals on the newest models. Once again this year, participating manufacturers Fiat/Chrysler, Ford, GM/GMC and Nissan are offering the lowest available prices on dozens of...