Published: June 10, 2009 03:06 pm      

Still influential — 06/11/09

Duncan moves from the GOP chairman to chairman of TVA

Mike Duncan has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone from a small town tucked in the mountains of eastern Kentucky can rise to a position of national prominence and influence. Just four months after losing a re-election bid as chairman of the Republican National Committee, the Inez banker has become the new chairman of the board for the Tennessee Valley Authority. And, just as his behind-the-scenes brought a different management style to the national GOP, Duncan is quietly changing the role of members of TVA’s board.

Although Inez is not part of TVA’s region, Duncan was appointed to TVA’s board by President George W. Bush in March of 2006 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was named chairman of the board on May 18.

While board members traditionally have been involved in the day-to-day operation of TVA, Duncan said he wants to change that by shifting more responsibility to TVA executives, headed by President Tom Kilgore.

“We need to continue to work toward that transition from a management board to a policy-making board,” Duncan said.

As chairman of the GOP’s national committee — a position he lost to Michael Steele in January — Duncan was often called the “invisible chairman,” so unobtrusive, in fact, that many GOP insiders and activists didn’t even know who he was. Unfortunately for Duncan, the unpopularity of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney made it virtually impossible to put together a winning ticket for the national GOP.

Organizations work best when members of the board set policy and choose leaders without meddling in the day-to-day affairs. That’s the approach Duncan wants the TVA board to take, and it’s the right one.

While eastern Kentucky is not part of TVA’s region, TVA does buy coal mined from both the eastern and western coalfields of Kentucky. That makes TVA important to this region’s economy.

While he supports using nuclear power, natural gas, wind and solar energy to help produce electricity in TVA’s region, Duncan rightly recognizes that coal will continue to be the primary source of producing electricity for the foreseeable future. The reason is simple: This region still has an abundance of coal.

That being said, TVA needs to be a national leader in promoting clean coal technology and must develop the safest way possible to store or dispose of coal ash. Coal ash ponds are not the answer.

Duncan also wants to shift TVA’s focus to conservation. That’s the right approach. Energy efficient homes, businesses and industries not only save consumers money but enable utilities like TVA to better use the electricity they produce.

Over the years, Duncan has served as chairman of the Morehead State University Board of Regents, chairman of the board of trustees at Alice Lloyd College, chairman of the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, a trustee of the Christian Appalachian Project and in numerous other influential positions — all while being a small-town banker in eastern Kentucky.

Don’t expect Mike Duncan, now 58, to attract too many headlines as TVA’s chairman. That’s not his style. Mike Duncan doesn’t boast about what he is doing — he just does it.