WASHINGTON – Guntersville business owner Randy Jones was introduced to a Senate committee Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville as a nominee for the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Jones was among four people nominated in July by President Donald Trump for the TVA board. The others, all of Tennessee, are Lee Beaman, Mitch Graves and Jeff Hagood. Alabama has just one allocated seat on the board.
“Madam Chair and Ranking Member, it’s my honor to introduce my good friend and fellow Alabamian, Mr. Randy Jones of Guntersville, Alabama, to represent the state of Alabama on the one seat that we have on the TVA board,” Tuberville (R-Montgomery) said during a nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. “Randy is a proud business owner and a civic servant of North Alabama. Over 45 years, he’s started his own insurance agency and has grown it substantially over the years, making him a big player in the state of Alabama.
“For 17 years, Randy has served on the Guntersville Electric Board where he oversaw a $12.8 million expansion of the system while keeping their debt low, which is very important.”
The TVA’s nine-member Board of Directors is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms.
However, since March there have been just three members on the board, and five are needed for a quorum to operate.
The board has not had enough members because Trump fired some of former President Joe Biden’s picks, including Huntsville attorney Joe Ritch, whose term had not expired.
While the board can take actions needed for ongoing operations without a quorum, it cannot jump into new areas of activity, start new programs or change the utility’s existing direction.
Jones has also served on the Business Council and Renewal Commission of Alabama and Jacksonville State University’s Board of Directors.
He and his wife, Debra, live in Guntersville and have one daughter and a grandson. They are members of First Baptist Church in Guntersville.
Tuberville is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our email newsletter to have all our smart stories delivered to your inbox.
