The board of the Tennessee Valley Authority will convene Thursday in Knoxville, and for the first time in the agency’s 75-year history it will include a Georgia representative.
Retired Blairsville, Ga., banker Tom Gilliland was sworn in as a TVA director during a brief ceremony Friday in Atlanta. Mr. Gilliland, an Atlanta native, becomes the seventh member of the current TVA nine-seat board.
In a prepared statement, Mr. Gilliland said he is eager “to help TVA meet the challenges of the 21st century and make the Tennessee Valley a better place to live and work.”
Georgia U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, who long have pushed for a Georgia member of the TVA board, praised the addition of Mr. Gilliland to the part-time TVA board.
“There is no one better qualified to serve on the TVA board than Tom Gilliland,” Sen. Isakson said.
Sen. Chambliss praised the new TVA director for his “integrity, strong background and experience.”
Mr. Gilliland recently retired as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville. He is a former chief of staff to Georgia Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard and served as chairman of the Stone Mountain Authority under Georgia Govs. Roy Barnes and Sonny Perdue.
The Georgia Republican fills the seat vacated by former TVA Chairman Bill Baxter, who resigned in January 2007. Mr. Gilliland’s term runs until May 18, 2011.
Since 2000, Mr. Gilliland has contributed more than $8,000 to Republican candidates and causes, according to the Federal Elections Commission. He contributed $2,000 to President Bush’s campaign in 2000 and more than $3,000 to Sen. Isakson in 2003 and 2005.
President Bush nominated Mr. Gilliland last July, and the Senate confirmed the appointment March 13. Last summer, President Bush also nominated two other former TVA directors — Susan Richardson Williams, of Knoxville, and Bishop William Graves, of Memphis — for another term on the TVA board. But confirmations of those appointments have been held up by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., over his concerns about the partisan makeup of the TVA board.
The term of the lone Democrat on the TVA board, Skila Harris, ends May 18, although she could continue through the rest of this year or until the Senate confirms her successor.
