Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton today recommended Jerry Collins, the City's current Director of Public Works, to serve as Interim Chief Utility Officer for MLGW. Collins would serve in a dual capacity and would maintain his position with the City.

His appointment must be approved by the MLGW Board of Commissioners and will be presented to the Memphis City Council.

A Memphis native, Collins has served as Director of Public Works since 2000 and began his career with the City in 1979. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Tennessee and a licensed Class IV Wastewater Plant Operator.

Collins serves as the Vice President of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works Association and formerly served as President of the Kentucky-Tennessee Water Pollution Control Association and on the Board of Directors for the international Water Environment Federation. He has received numerous awards for operational excellence and efficiency in the field of wastewater management, and under his leadership the City of Memphis went 22 years without a sewer rate increase. Collins was elected to the Kentucky-Tennessee Water Environment Association Hall of Fame in 2002.

A former Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Memphis' Herff College of Engineering, Collins received a bachelor of science in civil engineering in 1975 and a master of science in civil engineering in 1976.

MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 420,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County with some of the lowest combined rates in the U.S.