The Board of Directors of Bristol Tennessee Essential Services (BTES) recently announced the appointment of Clayton Dowell, current BTES Vice President of Engineering, as the next CEO of BTES.
The board retained outside consultant services to conduct a nationwide search. Extensive interviews were conducted before Dowell was selected. Dowell will take the role of interim CEO on November 11, 2022 and will assume the role of CEO on January 1, 2023.
Dowell will succeed Dr. R. Michael Browder who will retire at the end of this calendar year after a 50-year career at BTES.
Dowell is a native of Northeast Tennessee and joined BTES in May 2009.
He has served as Vice President of Engineering since 2011 where he is responsible for the Electric Engineering Department, Networks Department, and Television Production Department.
BTES is a municipally-owned electric utility that also provides high-speed Internet, telephone, and cable television services over a fiber-optic network.
BTES provides services to more than 34,000 electric customers and more than 19,000 fiber customers in a 280-square-mile service area in the city of Bristol and Sullivan County, Tennessee. Its electricity is provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a key partner with BTES since 1945.
