The president and CEO of one of Canada's largest electric companies will become the new head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the TVA board announced Thursday.
Jeffrey Lyash, 57, replaces Bill Johnson, 65, who announced last year he would retire in 2019.
Lyash leaves Ontario Power Generation Inc. effective March 31 and takes over at TVA in early April.
TVA, which provides power to more than 9 million customers, is headquartered in Knoxville. It met Thursday in Chattanooga.
TVA Chair Richard Howorth said Lyash's experience in the utility business made him a strong candidate to lead TVA.
He's held senior management positions with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, been an executive with Progress Energy and been executive vice president of energy supply for Duke Energy.
Lyash chairs the Electric Power Research Institute, an international non-profit that works on energy research and demonstration projects.
He'll get an annual salary of $920,000 with TVA, according to federal records, and take part in the utility's Executive Annual Incentive Plan with a chance to make 150 percent of his salary. Lyash also will be eligible for an EAIP bonus in fiscal year 2019 if he starts at TVA by June 30.
TVA also has a Long-Term Incentive Plan that Lyash is eligible to take part in. For that he'll get an initial grant of $2 million for the three-year performance cycle that ends in September 2021, records state.
The Toronto Star reported Lyash made $1.5 million a year in compensation with Ontario Power Generation.
