FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Isakson: Georgia Deserves Representation on Tennessee Valley Authority Board
Will Push Legislation to Expand Board, Require All TVA States to Be Represented

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today voiced concern that Georgia and two other states have never had a seat on the governing board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and announced that he will introduce legislation to require that all seven states served by the TVA are represented on its board.

During a Senate committee hearing at which six new nominees to the TVA board were considered, Isakson also informed Senate leadership that he will exercise his right to block those nominations from final confirmation until the issue of representation on the TVA board is addressed.

The TVA delivers power to some 123,000 households in northern Georgian, but no Georgian has ever been nominated to serve on the TVA governing board.  In addition to Georgia, the states of North Carolina and Virginia also have never been represented on the TVA board.

“Distributors of TVA power sold nearly 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours in 2004 to more than 123,000 households in 10 north Georgia counties. The TVA has jurisdiction over power issues that are critical to my state,” Isakson said. “My constituents must rely on TVA, and they deserve a voice on that governing board.”

Isakson said he will introduce legislation to expand the TVA board from nine members to 13 members and to add a requirement that each state in the TVA service area have at least one seat on the board. The TVA service area serves Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

While Isakson commended the qualifications of the six new TVA nominees during today’s hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he said he plans to place a hold on the six nominations until he has a commitment from Senate leadership to address the representation issue. Under Senate rules, any senator may place a “hold” on any nomination pending before the Senate to block that nomination from proceeding.

The six nominees today included three from Tennessee, one from Alabama, one from Mississippi and one from Kentucky.  

###