Memphis Has No Representation On TVA Board

More than 11 months since she was nominated to become the only Black member of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors, Memphian Patrice Robinson is still waiting to take her seat. Robinson, a former Memphis City Council member, was nominated by President Joe Biden to the nine-member TVA board on Sept. 11, 2023. She has yet to be confirmed. In fact, she has not even had a confirmation hearing, and it doesn’t look like one will be scheduled any time soon. “I am still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. This has just not been a priority,” Robinson said. “It has been a little nerve wracking, but I am not there yet.” Currently, eight people are seated on the nine-member board. All are white. None are from West Tennessee. A federally owned utility company, TVA supplies electricity to parts of seven states. It is the exclusive supplier of electricity to Memphis. As TVA’s single largest power customer, city-owned Memphis Light, Gas & Water pays $1 billion a year for electricity. Yet the city has not had anyone on the TVA board since John Ryder, a Memphis attorney and former general counsel for the Republican National Committee who died...