Senate confirms 4 new TVA directors

The U.S. Senate has confirmed four new directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which restores the nine-member board to full strength.
The new directors include three Democrats nominated by President Barack Obama: Middle Tennessee State University professor Barbara Haskew; Georgia Tech professor Marilyn Brown; and Oak Ridge lawyer Neil McBride. He re-nominated former TVA chairman and Republican businessman Bill Sansom.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who has headed the TVA Congressional Caucus, said in a statement that the confirmation of the new directors comes at a time “when producing large amounts of low-cost, reliable, clean electricity is crucial to creating good jobs.’’
Knoxville-based TVA, the nation’s largest public utility, serves about 9 million consumers in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.