Southern States Energy Board


The Southern States Energy Board is a multi-state regional organization created by an interstate compact approved by sixteen states and two United States territories, committed to promote economic development and quality of life in the southern United States through innovations in energy and the environment. Constituent members include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, United States Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Early history

The creation of the SSEB can be traced to the Southern Governors Conference meeting in Point Clear, Alabama, which on October 20, 1955 approved the "Point Clear Plan" whereby Southern states would coordinate the possible development of civilian uses of nuclear energy in the region. The agreement led to Florida Governor LeRoy Collins convening a preliminary energy conference on January 25, 1956 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Also attended by Tennessee Governor Frank Clement, representatives of fifteen Southern and Border states, as well as nuclear energy experts, additional meetings were held at Raleigh, North Carolina, Aiken, South Carolina and a March 1, 1956 meeting in Miami, Florida. Under the auspices of the Southern Regional Education Board, Gov. Collins convened a "Work Conference on Nuclear Energy at Redington Beach, Florida on August 1, 1956, which urged Southern governors to create "statewide atomic energy citizens advisory committees".
These efforts resulted in the creation of a Regional Advisory Council on Nuclear Energy", which first convened in Atlanta on February 1–2, 1957, with representatives from 14 states in attendance. Administrative support for the Council, originally provided by SREB, was transferred to the Council of State Governments's regional office.
By September 1961, with eight states having ratified a RACNE-drafted proposed interstate compact, RACNE became the "Southern Interstate Nuclear Board", the precursor to the SSEB, which then was officially sanctioned by enactment of Public Law 87-563, filed by Senator Albert Gore, Sr., of Tennessee and signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on July 31, 1962.

Leaders of the Organization

Southern Interstate Nuclear Board
Southern States Energy Board