April 19, 2018
At its Board meeting today, KUB President and CEO Mintha Roach announced her intent to retire from KUB by year-end. “I am so grateful for the time I have spent at KUB, working alongside men and women who have demonstrated year in and year out their commitment to our customers,” said Roach. “I could not have asked for a better place to work.”
Mintha Roach
President and CEO
Knoxville Utilities Board
Chair Celeste Herbert thanked Roach for her service. “We are all so fortunate to have had Mintha in this role. She has provided such leadership not only to KUB, but to the larger community. She has set a great example for all of us as a servant leader who has made KUB a better place.”
Commissioners discussed plans to replace Roach through a public process and agreed to limit their search to internal candidates at this time. “KUB has been very intentional in developing a deep bench of professionals with the skills needed to step into leadership roles at every level,” said Herbert. “The Board discussed this matter fully today and agreed that we are well positioned to take this approach.”
Roach was named CEO in February 2004, following the death of previous CEO Larry A. Fleming. She started at KUB in 1993 as Manager of Human Resources. During her tenure, she took on increasing responsibilities, ultimately serving as a member of Fleming’s senior staff and KUB’s Chief Administrative Officer. Following Fleming’s death in December 2003, she was named Acting President/CEO, and the Board named her as President/CEO two months later.
During her tenure, with the help of employees and the leadership team, KUB established an infrastructure replacement program – Century II – aimed at investing in all four utility systems to ensure that aging pipes and wires are replaced and upgraded before they impact customers. The Round It Up program, established to support weatherization and energy efficiency improvements for low-income customers, was also implemented in cooperation with other community partners. And KUB has received numerous industry awards for reliability, environmental stewardship, wastewater operations, and safety, as well as high marks for customer satisfaction. In addition to these accomplishments, KUB implemented the requirements of a federal consent decree related to the wastewater division, on time and on budget.
“I am so proud of what we have accomplished as an organization,” said Roach. “Our employees are second to none in everything they do – whether it’s restoring power after an outage, serving the community through their volunteer efforts, or supporting the environment through our operations and programs that support our customers. I know that these efforts will continue long after my tenure – that is what KUB has always been about.”
Roach has agreed to continue in her current role during the selection process, and her final retirement date will be set as that process is completed.
About Knoxville Utilities Board
KUB is a municipal utility serving Knox and parts of seven adjacent counties and provides electric, gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 457,000 customers.
