Built to Last. Built to Lead

TVPPA’s 80th Annual Conference Inspires Leadership for a New Era of Growth

In 1947, leaders from 45 municipal electric systems and 29 electric cooperatives gathered at the Read House in Chattanooga, Tenn., at TVPPA’s very first annual conference to address common challenges, including distribution practices and sales promotions. They also formed what would become a precursor to today’s Government Relations Advisory Group to stay abreast of legislation related to TVA.

Eight decades later, TVPPA’s membership gathered at the 80th Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky., facing a different set of challenges: how to meet unprecedented load growth; adapt to emerging technologies; recruit, train and retain a talented workforce; respond to evolving customer expectations; and navigate shifting policy priorities, all while preserving the reliability, affordability and local leadership that define the Tennessee Valley’s collaborative public power model.

As TVPPA members gathered May 19-21, one message emerged across the conference’s diverse lineup of speakers: The Valley public power model was built to last. For generations, it has adapted to changing technologies, shifting economic conditions and the growing needs of the communities it serves. Yet the forces reshaping the electric industry today — rapid load growth, artificial intelligence, data centers, workforce pressures, reliability concerns and shifting policy priorities — demand more than endurance.

They demand leadership.

That reality was reflected throughout the conference’s theme, “Built to Last. Built to Lead.” Discussions explored topics ranging from AI-driven load growth and grid reliability to workforce development, customer experience and the future of nuclear energy, but a common thread connected them all: ensuring the public power model remains as effective for the next generation as it has been for the last eight decades.

A Leadership Moment for the Valley

Opening the conference, TVPPA President and CEO Doug Peters noted that while the electric utility industry has dealt with unprecedented change over the past decade, the principles underlying the Tennessee Valley public power model have remained constant. “Our industry, our power model, and yes — the association made up of the Valley’s 153 local power companies — was built to last and built to lead.”

TVPPA Board Chair Chris Davis took attendees on a deep dive into what leadership in the Tennessee Valley looks like, starting with the courage of conviction and a focus on the needs of the public, illustrated by President Franklin Roosevelt when he established the TVA. “Eighty years ago, our predecessors led the Valley out of darkness. [President] Roosevelt and those early Valley leaders showed us what it looks like to be ‘built to lead,’ to step forward and make decisions that shape lives for generations.”

Davis reminded attendees that the Valley’s success has always depended on partnership. “TVA and our 153 local power companies are not simply connected; we are interdependent,” he said. “TVA needs us, and we need TVA.”

That message resonated throughout the conference as speakers explored the opportunities and challenges facing the electric utility industry. Whether discussing emerging technologies, growing energy demand, workforce development or reliability, presenters returned again and again to the same idea: The future of the Tennessee Valley will be shaped by leaders willing to work together, adapt and innovate.

Meeting a New Era of Growth

Few topics generated more discussion during the conference than the rapid growth in electricity demand being driven by artificial intelligence, data centers, advanced manufacturing and population growth.

Keynote speaker Peter Kelly-Detwiler, an energy industry thought leader and author, challenged attendees to consider the unprecedented scale of the changes underway. After years of relatively flat load growth across much of the country, utilities are now facing forecasts that would have seemed unimaginable only a few years ago.

“We in the power sector have something that another huge industry dearly wants,” Kelly-Detwiler said. “And it has profound implications for all of us.”

While headlines often focus on the technology itself, Kelly-Detwiler encouraged attendees to focus on the broader implications for planning, infrastructure and resource adequacy. The challenge is not simply whether growth will occur, but how utilities can prepare for it in a way that maintains affordability and reliability for existing customers.

That same theme was echoed by TVA Interim President and CEO Mike Skaggs, who described load growth as one of the dominant topics in conversations with federal policymakers and customers alike.

“Capacity, capacity, capacity,” Skaggs said, summarizing the concerns he has heard across the Valley. Yet rather than viewing those challenges as discouraging, he described them as opportunities to improve.

“What I appreciate is that it is direct, specific feedback on how we, together, need to work on things,” he said.

Representing Google, Tyler Mauldin offered the perspective of one of the companies driving much of the nation’s growing electricity demand. While acknowledging the concerns surrounding data centers and artificial intelligence, he described the current moment as a generational opportunity for communities willing to plan thoughtfully and work collaboratively.

“Meeting the moment is hugely important,” Mauldin said. “There’s always going to be community pushback on projects. The utility industry has seen that often. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise, but it underscores the need to do this in partnership and the right way.”

Throughout the discussion, speakers emphasized that growth alone is not the goal. The challenge facing utilities is accommodating that growth while protecting existing customers and maintaining the quality of service communities have come to expect. 

Preserving Reliability in a Time of Change 

If growth was one side of the conversation, reliability was the other.

As electricity demand increases, maintaining a reliable power supply becomes even more critical. Speakers highlighted challenges ranging from supply chain constraints and extreme weather to transmission infrastructure and generation planning.

During a presentation on reliability risks facing the Southeast, attendees heard that many of the industry’s most pressing concerns are interconnected. Growing demand, longer equipment lead times and increasingly complex operating conditions require utilities to think differently about planning and preparedness.

The discussion served as a reminder that reliability is not something customers think about every day … at least until their electricity is unavailable.

For local power companies, that reality reinforces the importance of investing in systems, infrastructure, training and partnerships that strengthen resilience. While technologies and tools continue to evolve, the mission remains unchanged: delivering safe, reliable electricity to the communities that depend on it.

Investing in People

While technology and infrastructure dominated many conversations, several sessions focused on another essential component of the public power model: people.

From workforce recruitment and retention to customer expectations and organizational culture, speakers emphasized that our industry’s success ultimately depends on the people who serve customers every day.

As experienced employees retire and competition for skilled workers increases, LPCs are being challenged to rethink how they attract, develop and retain talent. At the same time, customers increasingly expect the same level of communication, responsiveness and service they receive from other industries.

Those realities require leadership at every level of an organization.

The conversations underscored a theme familiar to public power leaders: Technology matters, but relationships matter just as much. The trust built between LPCs and the communities they serve remains one of the Valley public power model’s greatest strengths.

Built to Lead

As the conference concluded, attendees left with no shortage of challenges to consider. Artificial intelligence, data centers, workforce pressures, reliability concerns and evolving public policy will continue to shape the electric utility industry for years to come.

Yet the message from Louisville was ultimately one of optimism.

The challenges facing today’s leaders may be different from those discussed at the Read House in 1947, but the spirit that brought those early utility leaders together remains remarkably familiar. Then, as now, success depended on collaboration, innovation and a willingness to tackle difficult problems together.

“The question isn’t whether we have a role to play,” Davis told attendees. “It’s whether we’re ready to step into it fully.”

Eighty years after TVPPA’s first annual conference, the answer from today’s Valley leaders looks to be “yes.”