Dive Summary:

• The Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) board has voted to delegate certain authority to the utility's new chief executive if five of its vacancies aren't filled before Congress adjourns this month.
• Whenever five or more of the board's seats are vacant, the board lacks a quorum; Board Chairman Bill Sansom said that the move is being made "to make sure TVA continues to have flexibility to manage its activities."
• The TVA recently appointed former Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson to lead the utility, but its board appointments are still pending government action.

From the article:

TVA spokesman Scott Brooks told The Associated Press before Monday's vote that the new authority allows the CEO to conduct TVA business without the board "in certain critical areas," such as handling financing arrangements and contracts. The last time TVA operated without a board quorum was in 1999.

Brooks said it's possible Congress could fill the vacancies before leaving, but the utility is playing it safe because it doesn't control the process. ...