CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – CDE Lightband and the City of Clarksville thanked former CDE General Manager Dalton B. Smith on Thursday for his long and dedicated service by naming a new substation on Tylertown Road in his honor.
The new $6 million substation will serve more than 3,700 current customers and handle anticipated expansion in the fast-growing area around Exit 1.
“When it comes to naming a substation after someone, it is not something we take lightly,” Brian Taylor, CDE Lightband General Manager, said at the dedication ceremony. “With Smith’s family, current employees and retirees that worked with him in attendance, we are all in agreement that this is a small way we can honor a man who did so much for our company.”
Smith served as CDE General Manager from 1979 to 1994 during a time of great expansion of the City’s population and electric service area. Smith guided CDE through a national energy crisis that inspired the roll-out of CDE’s first energy efficiency programs. He also was instrumental in moving the City’s electric power utility from downtown offices to its current headquarters on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard. Soon afterward, he oversaw the utility’s expansion of service into the St. Bethlehem area of Clarksville after it was annexed by the City.
“Dalton Smith is so deserving of having this new substation named in his honor,” Mayor Kim McMillan said. “CDE is a great success today thanks to Dalton’s honesty, integrity and hardworking leadership during his 16-year tenure as CDE general manager. Now, everyone will see his name on this important substation, and remember his substantial contributions to our growing City.”
The new $6 million Dalton B. Smith substation will help CDE Lightband improve its infrastructure and enhance system reliability while serving new homes in rapidly growing Northeast Clarksville. The project was funded debt-free from proceeds enabled by CDE Lightband’s investment in its fiber network.