Lamar Alexander Archives

Rick Roden nominated by Donald Trump to serve as TVA board chairman

Rick Roden, President and CEO of the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of directors. Al.com reported Roden will complete the term of James Thompson III, who Trump fired last year. Roden confirmed his nomination on Monday but declined to comment further. Roden will complete Thompson’s term, which expires May 18. Roden has worked for the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce for 29 years. Thompson, who is from Decatur, Alabama, was appointed to the post by Trump. He was fired from the TVA board in August when Trump spoke out about the high salary for the TVA president. According to an AL.com report, Jeff Lyash was hired as TVA president in February 2019, with an $8 million salary. Trump said the president’s salary was “ridiculous”, and stated, “The new CEO must be paid no more than $500,000 a year. We want the TVA to take action on this immediately.” Lyash has remained TVA president. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee commented on the issue, stating that TVA chief executive officers’ pay is lower than other large utilities and that TVA energy rates are among the lowest in the nation. Trump fired Thompson along with Richard Howorth and threatened to fire more if they continued to hire foreign labor. Trump had previously signed an order prohibiting federal entities from outsourcing jobs overseas, something the TVA had started doing. TVA is a federally owned corporation that provides electricity to parts of seven states, including Alabama. The TVA website states, “The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity.”