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President and Chief Operating Officer

Oswald J. “Ike” Zeringue was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer by the TVA Board of Directors in April 1998. He is responsible for the management of TVA’s power production, transmission, power trading, and resource management programs. He heads TVA’s Executive Committee and chairs its Business Council.

In his previous position, as Chief Nuclear Officer, Zeringue was responsible for all management and operations associated with TVA Nuclear. He has more than 27 years’ experience in the power industry, progressing from staff engineer to Chief Operating Officer of one of the nation’s largest electric utilities.

Zeringue began his TVA career in 1975 as a nuclear engineer at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. During the next eight years, he held increasing levels of responsibility for directing engineering support for the start-up and licensing of Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear plants.

In 1983, Zeringue accepted a management position at the Arizona Public Service Company’s Palo Verde Nuclear Station. In 1987, he was named manager of a new nuclear unit, Palo Verde Unit 3, and directed its start-up, maintenance, and operation. The unit set several national and world records for performance during start-up.

In 1989, Zeringue returned to TVA to become the chief executive at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, where he oversaw the successful recovery and restart of the plant. In 1993, he was named Senior Vice President for Nuclear Operations, with management responsibility for Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar nuclear plants. In this capacity he directed the completion and licensing of Watts Bar Unit 1, which also established new records for initial performance after start-up and was recognized for excellent performance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Zeringue was named TVA’s Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President of TVA Nuclear in 1997, a year which saw the best-ever performance by TVA’s five nuclear units.

Zeringue has championed the use of employee high-impact teams to solve problems and improve efficiency. He has set up a network of executive-sponsored peer teams to implement standardization in TVA-wide operational and business processes, effecting significant cost savings and improved performance.He is the executive sponsor of the TVA Winning Performance Balanced Scorecard process, which links business performance to pay for all employees.

Zeringue earned a B.S. degree in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University and has done graduate work in mechanical engineering. In 1996, he graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.