Jeff Lyash is moving from the frying pan of Ontario politics into the fire of U.S. President Donald Trump’s coal agenda.
The chief executive officer of provincially owned Ontario Power Generation announced on Thursday that he will be taking the top job at the Tennessee Valley Authority, a historic U.S. government corporation that provides power in seven southeastern states.
Mr. Lyash, who joined OPG in 2015, departs in the midst of a $12.8-billion, 17-year refurbishment of four reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. He also leaves behind a Progressive Conservative government that has campaigned hard on its determination to cut costs throughout the province’s electricity system. The CEO had a run-in with the Ford government last fall, when the Premier’s chief of staff intervened to have him fire a political rival, Alykhan Velshi, who had been hired in an executive role.
However, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – established during the Great Depression to electrify Appalachia – has its own political challenges. This week, its board voted to close two aged coal-fired generating stations, despite pleas by the President to keep one open. The Trump administration has championed the coal industry despite the high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants produced by mines and coal-fired power plants.
The TVA is also facing a lawsuit after it quashed a deal to sell a nuclear plant – whose construction has stalled – to a private investor in Alabama.
“There’s controversy everywhere in this business," Mr. Lyash said in an interview on Thursday. “I’m walking out of controversy and I’m walking back into some.” He said he worked well with both the previous, Liberal government and the new PC government.
In taking the helm at Knoxville, Tenn.-based TVA, the Pennsylvania-born engineer will have to determine what role coal plays in the future and to what degree the company can rely on natural gas, renewable sources and conservation to supply its 10 million customers. The TVA also operates several nuclear plants and has embarked on a program to extend their operating life another 40 years.
Mr. Lyash earned $1.5-million a year as OPG’s chief executive. While he would not divulge his compensation at the TVA, current CEO Bill Johnson earned US$8.1-million last year, making him the highest-paid U.S. federal employee.
The departing OPG boss said he is confident he has left the massive Darlington refurbishment program in goods hands with chief financial officer Ken Hartwick, who was appointed to succeed him at the end of March. OPG also hired, as president for its nuclear division, Dominique Minière, the chief operating officer at Électricité de France, which has one of the world’s largest nuclear fleets.
Mr. Lyash, 57, said he came to OPG knowing he likely had one more career move before retiring – and heading up the TVA is a dream job for a utility executive.
“I would like to have stayed longer if the circumstances had worked out, but you’re not always in control of circumstances and you can’t dictate when the right job comes up.” he said.