The Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced Thursday that Dr. Kenneth C. Hill, of Blountville, has joined the agency as one of its four directors, the first from Northeast Tennessee in memory.

Appointed by Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and confirmed by the Tennessee General Assembly last month, Hill will serve the remainder of the term vacated by Tre Hargett, who now serves as Tennessee's Secretary of State.

Sara Kyle, of Memphis, was elected to serve as chairman of the agency, which is responsible for regulating the state's privately-owned utilities.

Kyle succeeds former Chairman Eddie Roberson who served as interim chair for the remainder of Hargett's term. Kyle also has East Tennessee roots, because her family lived in Kingsport when she was young.

Hill's term began on July 1 and will end June 30, 2014. He is currently the only Republican on the TRA.

"I am grateful to Lt. Gov. Ramsey and the members of the Tennessee General Assembly for entrusting me with this responsibility and opportunity to serve the people of Tennessee," said Hill. "My staff and I look forward to working with the TRA staff to provide quality judgment and informed regulation to balance the interest of utility providers and consumers.

In a telephone interview with The Greeneville Sun, Hill said said he was inspired to seek the post because, many years ago, he was involved in trying to get former Senator Tom Garland of Greeneville elected to what was then the Public Service Commission, but is now the TRA.

In those days, the PSC was an elected position, and Garland did not win, but Hill began thinking about what the agency does, which may have led to his appointment this year by Lt. Gov. Ramsey, who is also from Sullivan County.

"It will be a ton of work, but a ton of fun, too," Hill told the Sun.

Hill said he was a legislative intern when Garland served as Minority Leader of the Tennessee Senate. "He was a good role model," Hill said, "a man of integrity and someone that I trusted."

Hill and his wife adopted a one-day-old baby while serving as missionaries in Honduras, and years later, Garland was the speaker at her naturalization service when she became a U.S. Citizen, Hill said.

Dr. Hill has been active in communications and broadcasting for over three decades in various aspects of television and radio. For the past 27 years, Dr. Hill has been affiliated with the Appalachian Educational Communication Corporation (AECC) Bristol, which operates WHCB in Bluff City and WPWT in Colonial Heights.

At the time of his appointment to the TRA he was chief executive officer and served as general manager of five radio stations reaching portions of East Tennessee and four surrounding states.

Dr. Hill is active in the community, serving as secretary of the General Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church, chairman of the Publications Board of the Evangelical Methodist Church, member of the Board of Directors of the Tri-Cities Mass Choir, member of the Board of the Sister Community Project (Sullivan County, Tenn., and Siguatepeque, Honduras), and member of the Bristol Evening Lions Club.

He is also a former member of the Sullivan County Board of Zoning Appeals. He and his wife, Janet, have three children.

Dr. Hill has appointed Tabatha Blackwell, who previously served with the TRA as a member of Director Hargett's staff, as his senior policy adviser, and Jimmie Hughes of Bristol as his executive assistant.

The mission of the TRA is to promote the public interest by balancing the interests of utility consumers and providers. For more information on the TRA, go to www.tn.gov/tra.