FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 4, 2007

Isakson, Chambliss Continue to Push for Georgia Representation on Tennessee Valley Authority Board  

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) today re-introduced legislation to expand the Tennessee Valley Authority 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 delivers power to some 123,000 households in northern Georgia, 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 had a representative on the TVA board. The TVA service area includes Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

“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 our state,” Isakson said. “Our constituents must rely on TVA, and they deserve a voice on that governing board.”

“TVA is the largest government utility in the country and it’s crucial that each participating state has a voice on the board of directors,” said Chambliss. “Expanding the size of the board from nine members to thirteen will bring balance on behalf of the seven states that benefit from this service.”

The current TVA board of directors includes five individuals from Tennessee, one from Alabama, one from Mississippi and two from Kentucky.

Isakson originally introduced the legislation, which was co-sponsored by Chambliss, in February 2006. Isakson and Chambliss re-introduced the bill today in order for it to receive consideration in the new Congress that began today.

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