AEC’s Williams Awarded Regional Association’s Highest Honor

Greg Williams, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Appalachian Electric Cooperative, has been presented with the Richard Crawford Distinguished Service Award by the Chattanooga-based Tennessee Valley Public Power Association (TVPPA). This honor recognizes excellence in providing principled leadership to the association’s members, as represented by 154 local power companies from throughout the seven-state TVA region.

AEC General Manager, Greg Williams, left, took home the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association’s Annual Conference

The award is given each year to a utility chief executive who’s been active for at least eight years, demonstrated exceptional commitment, service and leadership to TVPPA, and contributed to the betterment of his community and the Tennessee Valley.

Williams has been AEC’s General Manager for the last seven of his 36 years there and is only the second individual in TVPPA’s 70-year history to serve three consecutive one-year terms as its Board Chairman.

TVPPA President/CEO Doug Peters said the folks who created the Distinguished Service Award nearly 40 years ago might just as well have had Williams in mind when they conceived of the honor. “Greg is an exemplary recipient of this prestigious award,” he said. “Leading such a large and diverse group of locally owned utilities is never easy, but Greg guided our association for three years with the kind of skill and class of which his staff and AEC’s members have long been aware. His record of service to TVPPA, which includes years of outstanding work on many committees, is unsurpassed.”

Williams describes himself as extremely grateful for having received the award, which was recently presented to him at TVPPA’s annual conference. “I am humbled and appreciative of this special honor,” he said. “It is my hope that my tenure as Board Chair has left our Association better positioned to meet the needs of the 154 local power company members in a rapidly changing electric industry environment.”

He credits AEC’s Board, the Co-op’s staff, and his family for the support they’ve provided during the past three years. In addition to the Distinguished Service Award, TVPPA also surprised Williams with a custom photographic portrait of his six grandchildren as a special thank-you for his stellar service.