Bill to give counties seats on municipal electric boards advances amid industry pushback

The House committee advanced HB 25-92, a bill to allow county mayors and county commissions to appoint board members to municipally owned electric utilities where the utility serves customers outside the municipality and those outside areas meet a 3,500‑customer threshold.

Representative Boyd, the sponsor, said the measure gives out‑of‑city customers a voice when they pay for a monopoly service but lack appointed representation on local utility boards. “We're giving them a seat on the board,” Boyd said, arguing that people who buy electricity from a municipal utility but live outside city limits have no alternative and should have representation.

Jeremy O'Ran of the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association testified that the association represents 60 municipal and county-owned utilities and that the bill would affect about 16 utilities; he warned the measure could create disproportionate board representation and increase board size, using Nashville Electric Service (NES) as an example where adding seats for outside customers could change board composition.

Committee members debated whether the bill targets particular utilities or has valid statewide application. Representative Mitchell said he did not believe adding board seats for small out‑of‑county populations is appropriate and cautioned about unintended impacts on governance. Representative Boyd said effects will vary by utility and the bill provides statewide application only where threshold criteria are met.

The committee voted to move HB 25-92 to finance (12 ayes, 9 nos), setting the stage for further review of governance structure and fiscal or administrative consequences.

What happens next: Finance will review potential operational or legal impacts, and stakeholders said they will continue negotiations on threshold levels and implementation details.