President Joe Biden is nominating Lyon County Judge-Executive Wade White to serve a five-year term on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, overseeing a sprawling public utility that provides electricity to 10 million people in seven states including Kentucky.
The nomination was included in a release sent out by the White House Friday. White, a Republican, has been a prominent advocate for eliminating invasive carp in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. White is not running for reelection this year as judge-executive, finishing out his third term in the office. White said he’s honored to receive the nomination and that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell brought up the possibility of serving on the TVA board in March.
“The thing that I'm gonna bring to the board is pretty much a lifetime of being involved with all the things that the TVA decides,” White said. “Anytime they make a decision, that affects everyone that lives anywhere near the footprint that they touch.”
McConnell in a release praised the nomination, calling White a “proven leader” and said he had recommended the nomination to Biden.
The TVA distributes electricity to 28 counties in Kentucky through local cooperatives and manages energy projects in the state including the Kentucky Dam, the Shawnee Fossil Plant, the Paradise Combined Cycle Plant and combustion turbines in Marshall County. White would be the only Kentuckian serving on the board if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
