Oct. 30--Amid one of the worst downturn in stocks and economic activity in the past two decades, Van Wardlaw is heading this year's campaign to encourage more than 9,000 federal employees in the 21-county Chattanooga area to contribute more to area charities and community groups.

Topping last year's $1.4 million in donations with a few less federal employees and a lot tougher economy will be a challenge, Mr. Wardlaw concedes.

"In today's economy, nothing is easy," said Mr. Wardlaw, who is chairman of the 2008 Chattanooga Area Combined Federal Campaign. "Things are difficult for everybody today, but they are even more challenging for those who are already having a hard time so it's a great opportunity to make a difference in our community."

The 48-year-old engineer is used to taking on challenging jobs and creating opportunities at the Tennessee Valley Authority.

In 2003 when an electrical blackout in the Northeast left 40 million Americans without electricity, Mr. Wardlaw was in charge of keeping the lights on in the Tennessee Valley, which TVA did without a flicker.

This summer as coal prices jumped by record amounts, Mr. Wardlaw was appointed to head a new division at TVA responsible for buying more than $6 billion a year of fuel and power from other utilities and generators.

TVA Chief Operating Officer Bill McCollum put Mr. Wardlaw in charge of the new planning and fuel-purchasing operations in July as coal prices more than doubled and natural gas and oil prices jumped by more than 50 percent.

"In an era of high fuels costs and increasing demand for electricity, it makes sense to consolidate our power and fuel supply functions with planning," Mr. McCollum said. "I'm delighted that we have an executive of Van Wardlaw's caliber within TVA ready and able to assume this responsibility."

The global credit crisis has quickly shifted the economic landscape, reducing expected economic activity in the TVA region while helping to cut natural gas prices. But so far, the coal that generates a majority of TVA's electricity remains priced well above a year ago. As TVA's current long-term contracts expire, Mr. Wardlaw said the federal utility is having to pay about 40 percent higher prices for new coal contracts.

"We've had some success keeping our coal purchases below market conditions, but unless prices come down there is going to continue to be upward pressure in coming years," he said.

TVA hiked its fuel-cost adjustment this month to raise overall wholesale power rates by 20 percent.

Mr.