When storms hit, Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) employees don’t run away from them—they run toward them. For Gabriel Bolas, that mindset defines both KUB’s culture and its role in powering one of the fastest-growing regions in the Southeast.

Bolas is President and CEO of KUB, the largest utility provider in East Tennessee. KUB is a municipal utility serving more than 520,000 customers in Knoxville and parts of seven adjacent counties with electric, fiber, natural gas, water, and wastewater treatment services.

In East Tennessee, KUB plays a central role in the region’s competitiveness, ensuring infrastructure capacity, reliability, and responsiveness across their rapidly growing service area. It all begins with strategic leadership.

This year, Bolas celebrates 31 years with KUB, where he began as an electrical engineer creating simple electric designs, such as small subdivisions and new businesses. He advanced to designing bigger projects and spent two-thirds of his career in engineering. During that time, he was promoted to Team Lead and was later promoted to Manager of Environmental Programs.

After that, Bolas moved into a new position supporting the Chief Operating Officer (COO), a role he job shadowed for a year before transitioning into construction management. In that role, he managed KUB’s lineworkers, foremen, and laborers, gaining firsthand insight into field operations and storm response.

 “I had so much fun, because I’m the guy who likes to see things built, and I was fascinated by it, but to this day I’ve never climbed poles, and I don’t want to,” he laughed. “I just appreciate the trade and the folks who work the storms in the craziest of weather. When the storm comes, we run to the storm, not away from it. That’s what we do.”

After serving as Chief Engineer, Bolas moved into KUB’s COO position. Two years later, he applied for the CEO role, a position he has now held for eight years.

“At KUB, we want to make sure the next person is ready,” Bolas said. “So, as part of our succession plan, we have the mentality that if there’s an opportunity, you should raise your hand for it and don’t get pigeonholed into one area. Having five utilities, employees can gain experience in a wide range of roles.”

Creating a Culture that Lasts

Bolas says creating a great workplace culture is vital to serving KUB’s customers well. He believes this starts with safety, superior customer service, and the care for every employee. He receives emails weekly from customers praising KUB employees, which he sees as a testament to the great work employees do every day. He makes employees feel valued every chance he gets including celebratory lunches to commemorate service milestones, personally meeting each employee on their first day of work, and even sending personalized birthday messages.

“I always tell them to ask the people around them questions, and they’ll be a better person for it. Some of these folks come with 12 years of experience from another utility, and we want to learn from them too. It works both ways. Overall, it’s just an awesome culture, and it’s fun to work here.”

Leading through the Storm

One of the most significant operational tests of that culture came during COVID-19, when utilities across the country had to maintain service continuity during a pandemic.

“I didn’t think we could get it up fast enough to give our employees a laptop and a camera, and we did that impressively fast,” Bolas said.

That rapid adaptation also exposed a broader issue: digital connectivity in rural parts of the service area. KUB responded by moving into fiber service. Leadership quickly worked through approval processes, and KUB became an internet and fiber provider in 2021.

“Creating a whole new utility wasn’t on my radar, but our customers needed it,” Bolas said. “Now, we’ve got 33,000 customers already on it in a short amount of time, and it’s growing every day. It’s a game changer, because communities with no access to the internet now have the fastest speeds in the world.”

Economic Development Impact

Bolas understands utilities are foundational to site selection decisions. He emphasizes the importance of regional collaboration and feels this is a key differentiator in East Tennessee’s 15-county region.

“If my service territory doesn’t land the industry, it’s still a win if a neighboring county gets it, because residents who work in those positions will still shop, buy a house, go to sporting events, dine, and utilize a variety of services KUB supports,” he says.

He admits utilities are a critical component to economic development, but it takes everybody, including the cities, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), East Tennessee Economic Development Agency (ETEDA), and others.

“I love the approach ETEDA has, because it’s about how do we get an industry to come and set up shop and then keep growing it. It’s not just about new companies; it’s about expanding the ones we’ve got, and I’m a big fan of that.”

With increasing energy demand, Bolas feels confident KUB is well-positioned to support growth.

“We’ve been constantly adding to our system over time, and we keep expanding all our systems, I’ve got more water and electric capacity than I’ve ever had. When we get prospects, it’s never an issue of capacity, because we continue to invest in our systems every day.” To support long-term growth, KUB maintains a 10-year planning process that outlines major infrastructure investments across gas, electric, and water systems.

Reliability and resilience are critical when companies are evaluating East Tennessee as a potential location, and KUB ensures they’re investing in new technologies for their substations and in their distribution system. Their goal is to always be safe, reliable, and affordable.

Community Impact

At KUB, giving back to the community is a core part of their mission. Employees receive eight hours of paid volunteer time annually to support local nonprofits.

“We had over two thirds of our company volunteer at least one hour, which is phenomenal,” Bolas said. “I see pictures of creek cleanups, working at Young-Williams Animal Center, and delivering meals for those in need. I can name 100 things they’re doing, and it runs the gamut. My philosophy is you’ll get more by giving. We have fun doing it, and our employees really embrace it.”

KUB also sponsors many nonprofit events, and Bolas personally serves on several community boards, such as United Way of Greater Knoxville and as chair of the Knoxville Urban League. Last year alone, employees raised $175,000 for United Way. During this event, employees enjoy lunch, games, and even dress up. Bolas has dressed up as many characters in the past, including Buddy the Elf, Blues Brothers, Danny from Grease, and a zombie from Thriller, just to name a few.

The Future Growth of East Tennessee and KUB

With the growth of East Tennessee on the rise, Bolas realizes that KUB plays a significant role in providing the capacity and reliability their customers need now and for years to come. He is thankful that he has been able to bring fiber to his customers that would not otherwise have it. It’s life-changing for them and for their businesses. It’s a local product, serviced by local employees at KUB, and he is proud of that. Beyond that, he says:

 “I just want to make sure that I keep growing the utility as strong as I can. I want to keep moving it to the next level of customer service, reliability, and safety. I inherited a lot of great things, and I want to leave things better than I got them. That’s who I am. I had great mentors before me that were phenomenal people. I’m hoping that for the next generation of folks, I’ll do the same thing for them, sharing the wisdom of mistakes made. I think learning from those is important, and it’s important to be humble and to be human. I always tell leaders, hire people smarter than you, and then get out of the way.”