Below are links to our Semiannual Reports which are delivered to Congress every six months in accordance with the Inspector General Act. Reports are listed in order of issuance, most recent first.

Image Intro

September 30, 2023

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2023, to September 30, 2023. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $67.7 million in questioned costs; funds to be put to better use; recoveries, fees, and fines; waste/other monetary loss; and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.

TVA relies on contractors and vendors to access materials, build and maintain assets, and innovate new technology to support and advance operations. Just as the world has experienced supply chain issues and workforce shortages, TVA must compete for resources required to expand generation, meet carbon reduction goals, and maintain aging generation assets. Our office supports TVA's efforts by focusing resources to (1) find ways to save and recover costs, (2) identify operational risks that could impact TVA's ability to execute its mission, and (3) detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. TVA has served the people of the Tennessee Valley for 90 years. Our imperative to help make TVA better is how we serve the 10 million people of the Tennessee Valley.


  Report


Image Intro

March 31, 2023

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $41.4 million in questioned costs; funds to be put to better use; and recoveries, fees, and fines; and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.

As TVA begins its 91st year, challenges lie ahead as demand increases and TVA strives to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The mission of TVA remains steadfast and the TVA OIG remains steadfast in our mission to help TVA identify risks, find operational inefficiencies, and detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse for the benefit of the 10 million residents of the Tennessee Valley.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2022

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. The information in this report shows firsthand the dedication and professionalism of the TVA OIG team and our understanding of the importance of providing independent oversight of TVA. We will continue to focus on making TVA better by identifying potential risks to TVA's ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at the lowest feasible rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $145 million in questioned costs; funds put to better use; recoveries; civil and criminal forfeitures; and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2022

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Our independent, professional, and dedicated staff continually focus on identifying potential risks to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at the lowest feasible rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $9.3 million in questioned costs, funds put to better use, recoveries, waste, and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2021

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2021, to September 30, 2021. Our independent, professional, and dedicated staff continually focus on identifying potential risks to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at the lowest feasible rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $33.4 million in questioned costs, funds put to better use, recoveries, and waste, as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2021

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. The global pandemic continues to provide challenges to us, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the people of the Tennessee Valley, and our country. Our dedicated professionals continue to meet these challenges head on and find ways to continue to deliver results for the people of the Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $7.1 million in questioned costs, funds put to better use, and recoveries and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2020

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020. October 18, 2020, marks 35 years since the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Our feature, "Making TVA Better for 35 Years," takes a look back at the evolution of our office and how we help TVA save or recover money, reduce risks, improve operations, and provide a deterrent to fraud. We approach our work with the purpose of making TVA better every day—a purpose that we share with the TVA Board of Directors (Board), management, and employees.

The Tennessee Valley, our country, and the entire world have faced a unique challenge during this period as a result of the global pandemic. Our dedicated and professional staff made adjustments to how we perform our work so that we could continue delivering results for the people of the Tennessee Valley. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than
$32.8 million in questioned costs, funds put to better use, and recoveries and opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2020

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. As this period ends, the Tennessee Valley and our country are in the midst of a pandemic, which has changed life for us both from a personal and work perspective. The Tennessee Valley has also experienced multiple tornadoes and above average rainfall during this time. While the circumstances are challenging and are expected to remain so for a time, we are making adjustments to how we perform our work so we can keep delivering results. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has been preparing for an event like this for many years. In our feature article, "Working Together While Remaining Apart," we examine how actions taken ten years ago to build a telework program and the needed infrastructure have served us well during this time. When stay-at-home orders were given, we were able to move to total telework, keep our employees safe, and take advantage of the technology to continue our work almost seamlessly.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $2 million in questioned costs, funds to be put to better use, recoveries, fees, waste/other monetary loss, and shared opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2019

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2019, to September 30, 2019. Our independent, professional, and dedicated staff are focused on identifying potential risks to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at the lowest feasible rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $13.7 million in questioned costs, recoveries, and savings, and shared opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2019

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. Our office is focused on providing independent analysis of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) operations and programs. This allows us to help identify more efficient and effective ways to do business and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Simply put, we approach our work with the intention of making TVA better for the people of the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified (1) more than $3.3 million in funds TVA could put to better use and recoveries, and (2) numerous opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2018

Making TVA Better

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2018, to September 30, 2018. In May 2018, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) celebrated its 85th anniversary. Also in 2018, the Inspector General community commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Inspector General Act of 1978 which established Inspectors General at 12 agencies. There are now 73 Inspectors General in the federal government all with the mission to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse.

Our office was created 33 years ago by the TVA Board of Directors (Board) and later became statutory in the 1988 amendment to the Inspector General Act. For 33 years, our office has provided independent analyses of TVA operations and programs to help identify more efficient and effective ways to do business and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Simply put, we approach our work with the intention of making TVA better for the people of the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified almost $64 million in funds TVA could put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries and savings, and shared opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2018

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. For 85 years, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has been working to improve the lives of the people in the Tennessee Valley. This unique government corporation accomplishes this goal through energy production, environmental stewardship, and economic development. Our office provides independent analyses of TVA operations and programs to help identify more efficient and effective ways to do business and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. In performing our mission, we approach our work with the intention of making TVA better for the people of the Tennessee Valley.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified approximately $57.9 million in funds TVA could put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries and savings, other monetary loss, and court-ordered forfeitures. In addition, we shared numerous opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2017

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2017, to September 30, 2017. In late September 2017, Richard W. Moore resigned as the Inspector General (IG) to become the United States (U.S.) Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. IG Moore was our first presidentially-appointed IG at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and served for more than 14 years. In this semiannual report, you will find a final message from him as well as a look back on his tenure with our office. We appreciate IG Moore's dedicated service and leadership to our office and the IG community and his passion for striving to make TVA better for the people of the Tennessee Valley. His contributions to our office, the IG community, and TVA will be felt for years to come.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified approximately $26.8 million in funds TVA could put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries and savings, as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2017

Office of the Inspector General Tennessee Valley Authority

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017. As mentioned in the previous semiannual report to Congress, the role of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in identifying potential risks to Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at affordable rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley is imperative to the agency's success.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified approximately $40.7 million in funds TVA could put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries and savings, and other monetary loss as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

September 30, 2016

A Focus on Organizational Effectiveness

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2016, to September 30, 2016. The role of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in identifying potential risks to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) ability to achieve its mission of providing reliable power at affordable rates, environmental stewardship, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley is imperative to the agency's success. In the past, the capacity for a business to accomplish its objectives was talked about in terms of goal-setting, strategic execution, and milestone measurement as if the objectives could somehow achieve themselves. But, with evolving insight, we now recognize the behaviors of the more than 10,000 people in TVA's workforce define its effectiveness as much as anything else. This realization is reflected in the highlights of our work throughout this report.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified nearly $15 million in funds TVA could put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries and savings as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2016

Navigating Risk – A Focus on Contracting

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016. The work of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is focused on understanding, identifying, and recommending ways to mitigate risks. The theme for this semiannual report is Navigating Risk: A Focus on Contracting. In recent years, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has focused on reducing costs. Annually, TVA spends more than $7 billion through its contracts for various services, materials, equipment, and purchased power. In our feature article, we discuss how our contract audit work helps TVA recover millions of dollars every year from contractors, negotiate better pricing for future contracts, and improve contract administration processes. These results impact TVA's ability to manage its costs and maintain its financial health. We would be remiss if we also did not acknowledge that the strong working relationships Contract Audits and TVA contracting groups have built together over the years are integral to our success in this area.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $26.5 million in recoveries, fees, fines, penalties, potential savings, questioned costs, and other monetary loss and identified numerous opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2015

Making TVA Better

On October 18, 2015, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) celebrated its 30th anniversary. In those 30 years the OIG, like TVA, has evolved. Our office was created as a Board-established office with a Board-appointed Inspector General (IG) during a time when TVA faced a crisis in the building of its nuclear plants. TVA, at the time, had a three-member fulltime Board of Directors (Board), received federal appropriations, and employed more than 50,000 people.

Today, the TVA IG, like TVA Board members, is nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States (U.S.) Senate. Other changes over the years include TVA no longer receiving federal appropriations, moving from a full-time three-member Board to a nine-member part-time Board, and reducing its workforce to about 11,000 employees.

Thirty years since our office's inception, TVA is focused on (1) maintaining rates as low as feasible, (2) living within its means, (3) managing its assets to meet reliability expectations and providing a balanced portfolio, (4) being responsible stewards of the region's natural resources, and (5) improving performance and employee engagement.

Throughout these 30 years, the TVA OIG has stayed committed to providing an independent analysis of TVA operations and programs to help identify more efficient and effective ways to do business and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. In our feature, "Making TVA Better," we take a look back at our office over the past 30 years, the changes in TVA and TVA OIG, and some of the contributions our office has made to help TVA save or recover money, reduce risks, and improve operations. Making TVA better is a mutual purpose we share with TVA management, employees, and the TVA Board. It is important to the 9 million people of the Tennessee Valley served by TVA that we approach our work with that purpose every day.

The relationship between a federal agency and an IG has been the subject of much comment over the last 30 years. This relationship is arguably one of the most challenging arrangements in the federal government. The natural tensions created by the IG being in the agency but publicly and independently reporting on matters that brings unwanted scrutiny on the agency has proven in TVA's case to be particularly challenging.

For us, this all means that we have to lean forward when it comes to communicating with our stakeholders. In other words, we have found it incumbent on us to initiate dialogue with our stakeholders, including TVA management and the TVA Board, rather than waiting for our stakeholders to ask us questions. We try to explain not just "what" we are doing but also answer the sometimes unspoken question from our stakeholders of "why" we are doing it. Staying in dialogue, despite the fact that there is sometimes disagreement over either the "what" or the "why," requires mutual respect and a united commitment to find a way to work toward our mutual purpose of serving the people of the Tennessee Valley. We appreciate the highly professional working relationship that the OIG enjoys with both the TVA Board and TVA management and their considerable investment in making our relationship productive for all our stakeholders.

With this report, we are pleased to present our work for the period April 1 to September 30, 2015. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $12.7 million in funds to be put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries, savings, and penalties, as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2015

Building a Better TVA...Together

We are pleased to present our report to Congress for the period October 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015. As discussed in our feature article, "Building a Better TVA...Together," Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) continues to face challenges from an operational and financial perspective. In these challenging times, it is especially evident that to best serve the people of the Tennessee Valley, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) not only needs to provide an independent view of the issues facing TVA, but also work collaboratively with TVA management to identify optimal alternatives and the best solutions. Some may say balancing independence and collaboration is difficult. Our experience says it is not only possible, it is integral to helping TVA management and the TVA Board identify the best solutions to mitigate the risks and address the challenges that lie ahead.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified nearly $11 million in funds that could be put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries, savings and penalties as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2014

Generating Power Through People

We are pleased to present our report to Congress for the period April 1, 2014, to September 30, 2014. As always, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) directs its resources to conduct audits and investigations based on the ranking of risks to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Whether it is cyber security issues, contracts with vendors that pose loss of funds, or TVA employees or contractors engaging in illegal activities, the OIG works with TVA management to reduce the harm to TVA.

In our feature article for this semiannual report, we discuss the importance of a healthy organizational culture at TVA and how culture poses a potential risk. We discuss TVA's efforts to assess its culture over the years and the attempts to sustain a more engaged workforce. In this feature article, we also announce the beginning of OIG reviews in January 2015 to assess organizational effectiveness at TVA. These reviews are designed to help TVA management assess how well they are doing both in meeting operational goals and in building a healthy culture. Given the significant challenges TVA faces, knowing how the level of employee engagement is affecting getting the desired results is imperative.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $3.3 million in funds that could be put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries, savings and penalties as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2014

Balancing Mobility With Security

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014. Mobile technology advancements have changed the way we work. Because of these advancements, conducting business is no longer constrained to a physical location or a hard-wired computer. Today, collaboration and information sharing occur seamlessly anywhere, anytime from your smartphone or tablet. While this technology can increase operational effectiveness, there are risks. In this semiannual feature, we focus on the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) role in helping the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) balance the benefits and risks of incorporating mobile devices into the business.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $20 million in funds to be put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries, savings, and penalties as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2013

Making TVA Better

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1 to September 30, 2013. The fact that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is facing an environment of declining revenue and rising costs has been widely reported. TVA management and the TVA Board of Directors (Board) are making hard choices that involve cutting costs and at the same time becoming more efficient. Historically, the work of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has supported cost cutting and efficiency goals through our audits, evaluations, and investigations. In our feature for this semiannual report, entitled "Making TVA Better," we discuss how our work contributes to helping TVA save or recover money, reduce risks, and improve operations. We share a mutual purpose with the TVA Board and TVA management in making TVA better.

In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $42 million in funds to be put to better use, questioned costs, recoveries, savings, penalties, and other monetary loss as well as opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2013

Navigating Risk – Challenges in Maintaining Financial Health

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013. As we have said previously, risk is at the heart of everything we do. In the feature for this semiannual report, we continue our focus on navigating risk by discussing the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) challenges in maintaining financial health. In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to illuminate the risks we see and work with TVA management to find solutions to mitigate those risks so that prudent decisions can be made on the best use of TVA resources.

To this end, in this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $2 million in recoveries, fines, penalties, potential savings, and questioned costs and identified numerous opportunities for TVA to improve its programs and operations.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2012

Navigating Risk – a Focus on Cyber Security

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2012, through September 30, 2012. Once again our theme focuses on navigating risks faced by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)-specifically, cyber security risk. Business leaders and government officials alike recognize the significant risk posed from cyber security threats that are constantly changing. As discussed in the feature article in this semiannual report, given what is at stake, it is imperative that agencies are agile enough to handle not only their identified historical threats, but any future threats as well.

All of the work that we do in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is aimed at reducing risks for TVA. Our accomplishments for this semiannual period all reflect, in one way or the other, how the OIG has made TVA better by reducing risks. Our audit, evaluation, and investigation activities resulted in almost $28 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, waste, potential savings, questioned costs, or funds which could be put to better use, as well as numerous recommendations to help TVA become better and recognize areas where additional controls may be necessary to adequately manage risks.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2012

The Challenge of Managing Change

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012. The theme of our semiannual is "Managing Change," and our feature highlights the challenges with managing one particular change-the decision to increase the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) reliance on nuclear energy.

In TVA's lengthy history, one thing that has remained constant is change. This is especially true today as TVA works to realign its generation portfolio, which includes constructing new plants and idling others while keeping rates low and continuing high reliability. The utility industry has always faced the need to be nimble in adjusting to a volatile market. Today, however, the challenges for companies like TVA seem to come more quickly. The effective management of change has become even more critical.

The role of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in this area is: (1) providing an objective, fact-based look at how well TVA is managing change; (2) identifying risk areas associated with managing change; and (3) providing recommendations to reduce risks.

As you will see from the results of this semiannual period, the hard work of our OIG team has resulted in about $12 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, potential savings, questioned costs, or funds put to better use. We also identified other monetary losses resulting from a capital project that had no realized bene?ts. Finally, we have provided numerous recommendations to help TVA improve.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2011

Navigating Risk

As those of you who read our Semiannual Report (SAR) know, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) selects a theme for each SAR and this SAR is no different. Our theme for this edition is "Navigating Risk." In many ways, our theme for every SAR could be about risk as this is the heart of our work and what drives our audit plan every year. This is the first edition of our SAR devoted to the topic of risks, but it will not be our last. Hopefully, you will see why.

In this semiannual period, our audit, inspection, and investigation activities resulted in almost $16 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, waste, potential savings, questioned costs, or funds which could be put to better use, as well as numerous recommendations to help TVA become better and recognize areas where additional controls may be necessary to adequately control risks.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2011

Making TVA Better

We are pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011. The theme of this semiannual is "Making TVA Better." As you will see throughout this report, the TVA OIG employees are working hard to do just that. In this semiannual period, our audit, inspection, and investigation activities resulted in almost $35 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, potential savings, questioned costs, and funds which could be put to better use, as well as numerous recommendations to help TVA become better.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2010

Creating an Environment of Change

We are pleased to present our report for the period April 1, 2010, through September 30, 2010. The hard work of our TVA OIG employees resulted in almost $20.5 million in recoveries, fines/penalties, potential savings, questioned costs, or funds which could be put to better use during this reporting period as well as numerous recommendations to improve TVA programs.

We continue to monitor the progress TVA is making with both the Kingston coal ash clean-up efforts and TVA's overall record of environmental performance.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2010

Culture – Asset or Liability?

he Tennessee Valley Authority continues to live under the cloud of the Kingston ash spill of December 2008. The Office of the Inspector General is reminded of this shadow every day through our continuing review of TVA's efforts to return the Kingston area to its former state. We see TVA making steady progress on the physical cleanup; but more importantly, we see signs of an improvement in the TVA culture that contributed to this unfortunate environmental event.

In this semiannual report, we ask the question, Culture: Asset or Liability? The Kingston incident demonstrated that a culture at a TVA fossil fuel plant which treats coal ash management like "taking out the garbage" can be a severe liability. Unfortunately, culture has been treated as a "soft" issue by both TVA and the Office of the Inspector General. While TVA has routinely taken a reading of culture through their "Cultural Health Index" reviews each year, there has been minimal effort until now to correct cultural problems. As one scribe noted in the aftermath of Kingston, "It takes a crisis." It is now clear that culture is not a "soft" issue that only affects employee retention or employee "satisfaction" ratings. Culture, in a very real way, has shown up on TVA's balance sheet. It can literally make or break a company.


  Report
Image Intro

September 30, 2009

Rebulding the Foundation

Change is coming to TVA...and much of it is internally driven. Undoubtedly, the coal ash spill at the Kingston plant on December 22, 2008, set some of those changes in motion, but the TVA Board and TVA management have reacted with a commitment to make the changes necessary to make TVA better. Yes, Kingston was an environmental tragedy, but ultimately the TVA that is emerging is likely to be better able to serve the needs of Valley residents. As we have pointed out in our reports on Kingston, this was a disaster that did not need to occur. That is, however, true of most failures whether personal or, as in the case of TVA, institutional. And as with most failures, there are new opportunities for growth and TVA is seizing those opportunities.

The Office of Inspector General at TVA is more than a proverbial "watchdog." In many ways we chronicle the history of the institution. Our inspections, audits, and investigations over the years weave TVA's story that is at times inspiring and at times distressing. Our two inspections that assessed TVA's reaction to the Kingston coal ash spill tell a tale that is mostly distressing. A noble institution with a proud heritage forgot its roots. Its reputation has been sullied both by the event and its failures in how it reacted to it.

What is now happening within TVA, however, is inspiring. Instead of taking defensive half-steps, TVA management has given itself to righting the wrong. What we are seeing is not for "show" but a true commitment to change. The culture which in part led to the Kingston ash spill is being thoroughly dissected and analyzed by experts brought in with a charge by TVA management to find out what needs to be "fixed." Just as importantly, TVA is aggressively sifting through its institutional risks with a focus that inspires confidence.

This inspiring story is not a story easily told by TVA. Its damaged image makes any positive story told by TVA suspect. Fortunately, the TVA Board and TVA management appear to be committed to doing the right thing whether or not they get credit for it. The fact is that TVA is on the move...and in the right direction. We report on some of that in the "Special Feature" section of this semiannual report.


  Report

Image Intro

March 31, 2009

Challenging Times

This report to Congress and the TVA Board comes at a time of historic challenges for TVA. We chronicle some of those recent challenges in the "Special Feature" on page 16 of our report. In many ways, a "perfect storm" has developed that has changed the landscape of TVA forever. As we note, a federal district court in Asheville, North Carolina, has ruled that a number of TVA's fos-sil fuel plants have created a "public nuisance" that must be abated in short order. This has significant implications for the composition of TVA's energy fleet and requires rethinking how TVA will meet the de-mand for power across the Valley.

Perhaps the darkest of clouds for TVA came on the night of December 22, 2008, when a coal ash pond at Kingston, Tennessee, spilled five million cubic yards of water and coal fly ash onto approximately 300 acres including about 8 acres of privately owned property. This incident (compared in the media to the Exxon Valdez spill) pre-cipitated intense Congressional scrutiny at two public hearings as well as a barrage of media coverage. Congress has vowed to provide more oversight of TVA and the ensuing litigation from residents of Roane County, Tennessee, promises to keep TVA in the spotlight for years to come. As one TVA executive aptly put it..."this event-painful and uncharacteristic as it may be-is now part of our history as well" despite the laudable contributions of TVA to the Valley and the Nation in years past.

These events with significant adverse economic consequences for TVA are compounded by an economy that has driven down revenues for TVA due to business constrictions across the Ten-nessee Valley region. TVA's rates to its wholesale customers have fluctuated with the sharp increases drawing fire from retail residential customers while reductions in rates by TVA receive scant attention. Thus, TVA finds itself seemingly embattled on almost every front.

We raise the question in the Special Feature article, "How is TVA doing?" While this question is of particular relevance today, the OIG started posing the question before TVA was beset with the current crisis. We had previously com-mitted to doing assessments that would relay to TVA's stakeholders how TVA was doing with regard to finances, cus-tomer relations, environmental stew-ardship, and operational effectiveness.

Our reports provide an independent perspective of TVA operations in key strategic areas. We issued the customer relations report during the prior OIG semiannual period, and the remaining reports will be issued during the next semiannual period.


  Report

If you see something that doesn't look right, say something. By doing so, you help the OIG stop fraud, waste, and abuse in its tracks! Anonymous & Confidential. The EMPOWERLINE® is a safe outlet for reporting and is available 24/7.

Call us at (855) 882-8585 or go to:   EMPOWERLINE®