The Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) is the Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 governmental unit charged with the responsibility of setting rates and service standards for privately owned telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

, natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, electric and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 utilities.

The TRA was established on July 1, 1996, following the shutdown of the Tennessee Public Service Commission

Tennessee Public Service Commission

The Tennessee Public Service Commission, also called Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, was a three-member elected body which regulated private utilities, trucking firms, and railroads within the state of Tennessee...

.

When established, the TRA was headed by three directors, with the governor, lieutenant governor

Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee

The Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee is the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the U.S...

, and speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives

Tennessee House of Representatives

The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

 each appointing one director. The initial directors were H. Lynn Greer, Jr., Sara P. Kyle, and Melvin J. Malone. In 2002 a fourth director was added by the Tennessee General Assembly

Tennessee General Assembly

The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...

, to be appointed by joint agreement among the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the House. Each director serves a six-year term. After 2008 the terms are required to be staggered.

External links

• Tennessee Regulatory Authority
• Tennessee Regulatory Authority in the Tennessee Blue Book
  Tennessee Blue Book
  The Tennessee Blue Book is an official government manual for the U.S. state of Tennessee, published by the Secretary of State of Tennessee.The Blue Book is typically published on a biennial basis...
  
  
• Janice Beecher (Michigan State University), The All Commissioners List - List of all persons who had ever served as members of U.S. federal and state public utilities regulatory agencies through 2007