(FORTUNE Magazine) – Why would a man with 45 years of experience in the auto industry -- including 37 years with Ford -- leave a lucrative job as CEO of Nissan's U.S. subsidiary to take over the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's most beleaguered public utility? Marvin Runyon waxes patriotic: ''I owe this country something for all it's done for me. The U.S. has a lot of problems, but if more people got involved, we might be able to solve them.'' At TVA, Runyon, 64, is plunging into a mess of troubles deeper than a mountain holler: a bloated bureaucracy, low worker morale, and a government cap on executive salaries (Runyon earns a congressionally mandated salary of $82,500 per year, vs. his $600,000 at Nissan). Because of safety problems, not one of the utility's nine nuclear reactors was producing so much as a kilowatt of electricity when the Silver Fox, as Runyon was known at Ford, took charge in January. Now, with the plant near Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, having just gone on line, two facilities are squeezing juice. Other wheels of change are in motion. Runyon has let go 7,800 of TVA's 33,000 workers, and hopes to persuade the government to remove the salary cap. He is also looking for ways to pare $154 million from TVA's $5.5 billion annual budget. Runyon thinks some of that might come from the hides of consultants. Says he: ''Consultants are here for a year. I want people who are here for a lifetime.''