D.A. (Dad) Daniel installs electric meter number 4000 on a Hardison Street home in 1956.

This brief excerpt is from a history of public utilities in the City of Tullahoma that was published in the fall of 2002 in honor of the city’s 150th anniversary.

     Electric power in the city of Tullahoma dates to the first year of the 20th century, when the Electric Light and Water Works Commission was formed on April 15, 1901, for the purpose of erecting and operating a generating plant for the city. A contract to sink a well for the city to use as a public water source followed closely in 1902.
     By 1911, records reveal that fire hydrants and water lines were financed by the customer desiring the service. They paid 75 cents for each house, with an additional 50 cents if the house had an inside toilet. A drinking fountain for horses was also available in the downtown area.
     In 1912, the Board of Electric Light, Water Works and Sewer Commissioners established rates of 10 cents for the first 50 kilowatt hours of electricity used, eight cents for any additional usage, and 25 cents for rental of electric meters. A contract to supply electric power to city residents was awarded to the private firm of Cummings and Brown and the first sewer bond issue raised $25,000 to build a wastewater treatment plant.
     From these auspicious beginnings the Board of Public Utilities for the City of Tullahoma was born in 1947, when TVA assumed the distribution of electricity from the Tennessee Electric Power Company. Although TVA had been established in the mid 1930s, Tullahoma leaders did not enter a contract with the federal agency for over 12 years, fearing revenue generated by the electric department would be lost if the city had to retail electricity under the rules and regulations set forth by TVA.
....But due to mounting pressure from TVA to supply city residents with lower electric rates and a promise to compensate the city annually for the loss of revenue, Mayor Olney Anderson entered into a contract with TVA, and formed a separate board for electricity on Sept. 13, 1948. The first Board of Public Utilities consisted of F.I. Couser, O.D. Wiseman and E.I. Hitt, chairman. Serving as manager was A.H. Sanders, and Elmer Rose was secretary/treasurer. Assets amounting to $305,637 were turned over to the board, but no cash actually changed hands.
....Citing an inability to operate the water and sewer departments and meet bond obligations as well, Mayor Tut Parham turned over the operation of the water and sewer systems to the Board of Public Utilities in July 1, 1959.
....Former comptroller Lee Beavers wrote the following account in 1975:
     "In 1959 we took over a water system that was pumping water 24 hours per day and had a line loss of 45 percent. In 1960 we started a program of plugging leaks and by 1964 we had reduced line loss to 15-18 percent. Old pumping figures back in 1955 show 45,000,000 gallons being pumped. Today, 20 years later, we are pumping 55,000,000 gallons per month."
....On Aug. 12, 1977, ground was broken for the current Tullahoma Utilities Board building on South Jackson Street. Designed by Sverdrup & Parcel, the building and warehouse were projected to cost $1.3 million and were funded with the aid of a Federal grant secured by former U.S. Rep. Albert Gore Jr., who was on hand at the groundbreaking ceremony.
....In 1911, a raise of $2.50 per month was given to Abbott "Dad" Daniel, the city’s sole electric crew. He read meters, wired houses, ran wire to poles and hooked up new customers. He retired from the Tullahoma Power System in 1956 and died in 1976. Today an electric crew consisting of the department manager, two associate engineers, a line foreman, six linemen, three driver/operators and one mechanic maintain the electric system, which consists of 250 miles of distribution line.
....Brian Skelton serves as TUB's general manager. Brian Coate serves as the manager of the electric department. Serving as administrative manager/comptroller is Dwight Miller, and manager of the water and sewer departments is Scott Young.