Tennessee Gov. Bill HaslamCLOSER TO HOME
The Tennessee Regulatory Authority will take public comments next week on Tennessee American Water’s requested 24.9 percent rate increase. TRA directors will hear local comments about the proposed $10.6 million rate hike — the biggest ever for the water utility — from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Hamilton County Courthouse commission room.
NASHVILLE — After the General Assembly approved Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed overhaul of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority last spring, Knoxville businessman Earl R. Taylor thought he might be a good fit as one of the agency’s five new part-time directors.
But Haslam, a former Knoxville mayor who knew Taylor, and the governor’s top staffers instead saw Taylor in a different role at the TRA, which sets rates and service standards for privately owned utilities.
The governor decided Taylor, who had worked as an attorney and television affiliate executive before becoming a Panera Bread restaurant franchisee with multistate operations, was the best choice for the reconfigured authority’s powerful new executive director position.
So on July 31, Haslam; Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who is Senate speaker; and House Speaker Beth Harwell named Taylor as executive director. He is in effect the TRA’s chief operating officer.