CEO of the nation's largest public utility plans to retire
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The CEO of the nation's largest public utility will retire no later than September after nearly six years in his position, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced Friday.
Jeff Lyash's departure as president and CEO of the federal utility follows a tenure with ups and downs in a seven-state service region growing in population.
TVA has focused on nuclear energy with its proposal to build a small modular reactor. It also worked toward its plan to retire all its coal-fired plants by 2035, laid out a roadmap for an electric vehicle charging network and kept its retail electricity rates at 80% lower than the rest of the U.S. and its industrial rates at 95% lower, according to the utility.
Lyash has also drawn scrutiny from clean energy advocates. He helped lay plans to replace several of TVA's aging coal plants with another fossil fuel, natural gas. Several of TVA’s proposals for new natural gas plants have prompted criticism from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And the utility's targets fell short of former President Joe Biden's administration goal for a carbon-pollution-free energy sector by 2035, despite having a Biden-appointed majority on the board.
Additionally, over two days in December 2023, the utility resorted to rolling blackouts after coal and natural gas units went offline during dangerously cold conditions. The scenario prompted changes that may have helped keep its system online during a new high in demand in a cold spell earlier this month.
“TVA truly is a special place – created more than 90 years ago to improve the quality of life for more than 10 million people across this region," Lyash said in a news release Friday. "That mission of service continues to be our focus today."
His announcement also follows the return of President Donald Trump, who put Lyash on the hot seat in his first term. In 2020, Trump fired the former TVA board chairman and another board member. He also called for Lyash’s replacement and the position’s pay to be capped at $500,000.
In response, TVA has noted that the CEO pay ranks in the bottom quartile of the power industry. Lyash’s total compensation topped $10.5 million in the 2024 budget year, including various pension and performance incentives worth millions of dollars. Additionally, the utility has stressed that it doesn't receive federal taxpayer money and instead is funded by electricity customers.
Trump also drove TVA to reverse course on the hiring of foreign labor for information technology jobs.
TVA was out of Trump's crosshairs as his 2020 campaign heated up during the pandemic. The utility has not come up publicly for Trump in his early days of returning to office. TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said Lyash's retirement "is not related to the administration or any current politics" and that Lyash began talking to TVA board members last fall about considering retirement. Lyash is listed as 63 years old in a November SEC filing.
“TVA has worked with 20 presidential administrations since its creation in 1933 — that’s 15 different presidents, each with their own goals and commitments,” Brooks said.
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