Chattanooga, TN (Apr. 27, 2022) – EPB has promoted Ryan Keel to Senior Vice President, Technical Operations with responsibility for all business systems, technical operations and facilities for both EPB Energy and EPB Fiber Optics. In his new role, he will lead efforts to more fully align EPB’s technical expertise, information systems, fiber optic network and smart grid electric infrastructure with every aspect of EPB’s effort to deliver world-class customer experiences.

“We’re seeing the emergence of a new phase of rapid technical innovation and increasing convergence between the energy and connectivity industries,” said David Wade, President & CEO of EPB. “As part of EPB’s mission to enhance quality of life, we’re focused on translating all these technical possibilities into products and solutions that substantially benefit the people we serve. Ryan Keel has proven his tremendous ability to lead our team of technology experts as we work to keep our community on the cutting-edge while delivering strong value for our customers.”

Keel played a critical role in the initial design and build out of EPB’s Smart Grid, which is widely considered to be one of the most advanced and highly automated power distribution systems in the United States. In 2014, he was promoted to VP of Technical Operations with responsibility for technical operations for both EPB Energy and EPB Fiber Optics. In addition to leading efforts to utilize Chattanooga’s Smart Grid to reduce the incidence and duration of outages by as much as 55% each year, Keel is leading a major upgrade of EPB’s fiber optic system to next-generation network technology.

“One of Ryan’s major strengths is that he sees the big picture without forgetting the details,” Wade said. “He’s a respected leader of people who has the ability to reduce complex projects to the most salient points in a way that aligns our expertise, procedures and technical systems, so that we can move forward rapidly.”

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead EPB’s outstanding team of technology professionals,” said Keel. “Our goal is to apply our strengths as a technology and infrastructure company to meeting real needs in our community. At a time when people have so many new options when it comes to energy and technology, we want to make it easy for them to benefit by helping them bridge from the present to the future.”

Keel is a native Chattanoogan. He has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He began working at EPB in 1997 and has held positions in engineering, operations, and leadership. Keel is a member of the Rotary Club. He and his wife Keri are the proud parents of three children.

About EPB

EPB serves the people of the Chattanooga area with advanced smart city infrastructure to enable world-class energy and connectivity solutions that include the most resilient smart grid power distribution system in the United States and the fastest internet in the world. EPB gained national notice when it deployed a community-wide fiber optic network accessible to all its customers and used it to launch America’s first Gig-speed internet in 2010 (beating Google Fiber by four years) as well as the first 10 Gig internet service available as a standard offer to all residences and businesses in 2015.

EPB also utilized the fiber optic network as the communications backbone for deploying more than 200,000 smart switches, sensors and other devices to establish the most advanced and highly automated smart grid in the nation. As a result, the U.S. Department of Energy named EPB a living laboratory for pioneering smart grid technologies. Since then, EPB has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and more than 20 other national research partners to play a critical role in more than $155 million in smart city research. EPB was also the first major power distribution utility to earn the GBCI’s PEER certification for having a highly automated, modernized electric power grid in 2015 and followed up in 2021 by re-certifying at PEER Gold.

EPB is an independent board of the City of Chattanooga which began serving customers in 1939. Visit epb.com for more information.

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