Roberson Resigns from TRA

The chairman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, Eddie Roberson, has announced he’ll resign October 1.  His resignation comes at time when the agency’s future is uncertain.

Eddie Roberson has been with the TRA and its predecessor for more than 30 years. The agency regulates power companies and other large utilities. TRA’s role has been the focus of Governor Bill Haslam’s top-to-bottom review of state regulations.

Haslam has said he isn’t sure if the agency should still carry out utility regulation, of if that function could be handled by other parts of state government. Asked what the agency might look like a year from now, Roberson says…

“I don’t know. I think that the function will be around. But how that function is organized and who’s running it, you know, is basically up to the legislative branch and the governor.”

Roberson’s appointment to the TRA officially ended in July, but he stayed on with the agency as the Governor’s office carried out its review. The Haslam administration will present its plans for state regulators in the next few months.