Tennessee Valley Authority President and CEO Bill Johnson has announced that Michael D. “Mike” Skaggs has been promoted to chief operating officer of TVA.

As COO, Skaggs will be responsible for power operations, nuclear, transmission and power supply and generation construction, projects and services.

Skaggs has 35 years of experience in the utility business, with more than 25 of those at TVA. He most recently served as executive vice president, operations, with responsibility for safety, transmission and power supply, land and river management, environmental compliance and operations, supply chain, enterprise improvement, aviation services, TVA police and emergency management and facilities.

Previously, he led the team responsible for the completion of the first new nuclear unit of the 21st century at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and provided oversight of the testing, startup and integration of that unit into TVA’s nuclear fleet. During his career at TVA, he has held top management positions at each of the company’s three nuclear plants.