NRECA's PowerXchange: Chris Jones

The National Rural Electric Cooperative's PowerXchange is the largest gathering in the nation of cooperative leaders. Public Utilities Fortnightly brings you excerpts of an online CEO talk with NRECA's Jim Matheson, Middle Tennessee Electric's Chris Jones, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas' Buddy Hasten, and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative's Suzanne Lane. 

Middle Tennessee Electric CEO Chris Jones: Middle Tennessee Electric or MTE, we're right here. We are a distributor of TVA power for most of the southern portion of greater Nashville, specifically, Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, and a few other counties, including the cities of Murfreesboro, Franklin, and Lebanon.

We are the largest electric cooperative in Tennessee and the second-largest distribution cooperative in the country. We serve about three hundred thirty-five thousand meters and more than seven hundred fifty thousand residents, and several significant commercial accounts such as Nissan's North American Corporate Headquarters, and its Smyrna Assembly Plant.

I will share about how we're managing change because we have a fast-growing service territory. We sought to manage the changes by being opportunistic, proactive, and fundamentally focusing on member satisfaction. We've worked hard to understand what our members want and then to deliver.