§ 65-1-104 — Quorum - Chair and vice chair - Panels

(a) A majority of the commissioners of the Tennessee public utility commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The commission shall elect one (1) of its commissioners to be the chair of the commission for a two-year term and shall elect one (1) of its commissioners to be the vice chair of the commission for a two-year term. The vice chair shall assume the role of chair at the expiration of the chair's two-year term. (b) The chair and vice chair of the commission may be removed by a majority vote of the disinterested commissioners. (c) The chair shall have the primary responsibility of formulating the broad strategies, goals, objectives, long-range plans and policies of the commission, in conjunction with the commissioners. The chair shall also have the power and duty to conduct ordinary and necessary business in the name of the commission. Such duties include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Giving notice of, and agendas for, all meetings of the commission to all commissioners in advance of the meeting; (2) Assigning matters to be heard by panels in accordance with this section; (3) Preparing and calling the docket items to be heard during each scheduled meeting of the commission; (4) Keeping the official, full and correct record of all proceedings and transactions of the commission; (5) Serving as the designated contact for all media inquiries to the commission; (6) Ensuring that orders by the commission are issued in a timely manner and in accordance with the rules and procedures established by the executive director; (7) Conducting a yearly performance evaluation of the executive director, which shall be submitted to the governor; (8) Delegating duties of the chair to the vice chair; and (9) Performing such other duties as the commission may assign or as may be required by statute, rule or regulation. (d) The chair shall assign each matter before the commission to a panel of five (5) voting members from among the commissioners. The remaining two (2) voting members of the commission, who are not assigned to a particular panel, shall not vote or deliberate regarding such matters. The commission shall establish reasonable procedures for rotating the commissioners for assignments to panels in an efficient manner. Such procedures shall ensure that all voting members of the commission serve on a substantially equal number of panels in a random fashion, to the extent practicable.

Legislative History

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 583, s 2, eff. 5/27/2021. Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 5; 2002, ch. 826, § 4; T.C.A. § 65-1-204; Acts 2012, ch. 1070, §§ 3 - 6.