Carroll

Greeneville, TN, L & PS has commenced the process of becoming an energy authority.

If all goes according to plan, the TVPPA-member utility will go from being municipally owned to a free-standing entity on or about July 1, 2019.

The Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Nov. 20 to authorize creation of the Greeneville Energy Authority to provide electric and telecommunications services. As part of this transition, the GL&PS Board of Directors will soon ask the Tennessee Secretary of State for approval to continue providing electric services under its longtime name.

In shifting to an energy-authority business model, GLPS would join TVPPA-member brethren BrightRidge (Johnson City, TN), Jackson, TN, EA; Union City, TN, EA; Bolivar, TN, EA and Tullahoma, TN, UA.

Longtime GLPS General Manager Bill Carroll said that, as an authority, the utility will no longer function directly under the auspices of the Town of Greeneville. As an independent entity, he said, it would have more latitude to deal with the rapidly changing utility business and to possibly expand into areas such as broadband.

Carroll, a former TVPPA and APPA chairman, emphasized that the change would have no impact on the utility’s customers or employees.