Report would add voting seats to municipal utility boards; MLGW advisory roles would convert to voting

The conference report details how additional voting seats would be added to municipal utility boards when a utility serves sizable customer bases outside its owning municipality.

Lehi Crutchfield (Office of Legal Services) explained the mechanics: a home county may receive one additional seat if there are "3,500 to a 130,000 customers that are served by the utility outside of the municipality that owns the utility but within the home county," and a second seat if the outside-customer count exceeds "130,000". For counties outside the home county, a single additional seat is available if the utility serves at least "3,500" customers there; localities choosing not to take a seat may decline the appointment. Crutchfield said these new seats would be voting positions if the thresholds are met.

Senator Ackberry pressed on how that would affect Memphis Light, Gas & Water. Committee counsel confirmed existing advisory positions would convert to voting members and that the appointments would come from the two largest municipalities outside the city of Memphis. Senator Ackberry warned this could produce disproportionate representation; Leader Lambert and other members said the policy aims to give substantial outside customer groups a voice on boards.