TVA Board Appoints Tom Kilgore as CEO
October 13, 2006
The TVA Board of Directors today appointed Tom Kilgore as the federal corporation’s first chief executive officer.
The Board unanimously approved Kilgore’s appointment, which was recommended by the Board’s Human Resources Committee, at a meeting in Knoxville, Tenn. Kilgore has served as acting CEO since March 31. He joined TVA in 2005, when he was named president and chief operating officer after a nationwide search by the previous TVA Board.
“Tom Kilgore is a proven leader whose experience is an excellent match for TVA,” said TVA Chairman Bill Sansom. “His deep understanding of the utility industry and marketplace and his desire to take TVA’s overall performance to a higher level made the Board’s decision an easy one. The Board has complete confidence in Tom’s ability, and we are fortunate to have a professional of his caliber available to lead TVA.”
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 established the CEO position as part of the change in governance structure from a three-member Board to the new nine-member Board. Board members, appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, are responsible for establishing broad goals, objectives and policies and developing long-range plans to carry them out, while the CEO is responsible for the day-to-day management of TVA operations and programs.
“I am gratified by the opportunity the Board has given me to make a difference in the place where I grew up -- the Tennessee Valley,” Kilgore said. “Our continuing focus will be to implement the work already begun: improving operational and financial performance, safeguarding the river system and earning the respect of all our stakeholders.”
Kilgore came to TVA in March 2005 from Progress Energy, where he was president and CEO of Progress Energy Ventures, the utility’s wholesale, non-regulated energy services business. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of Oglethorpe Power, the nation’s largest generation and transmission cooperative, from 1991 to 1998. He spent 19 years at Arkansas Power and Light (now Entergy), where he held positions in engineering, fossil operations and nuclear operations.
Since coming to TVA, Kilgore has led TVA through periods of the highest demand for power in TVA’s history, including an all-time record demand in July 2006. For the seventh year in a row, TVA’s transmission system delivered power to customers with a 99.999 percent reliability.
Under Kilgore’s leadership, TVA and its state and local partners helped attract or retain some 50,000 jobs and balanced the demands of power production, navigation, flood damage reduction, recreation, water quality, water supply and land use, despite extremely low rainfall this past year. In conjunction with a fuel cost adjustment, TVA was able to reduce firm wholesale power rates this fall.
Kilgore, 58, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Alabama and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the United States Council for Energy Awareness. Kilgore currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Kilgore is a native of Dekalb County, Alabama. He and his wife, Myra, have three children.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.6 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood damage reduction, navigation, water quality and recreation.
Media Contact
John Moulton, (865) 632-8048
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
