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Guidelines and Reports
The Tennessee Valley Authority serves you with only the highest standards in mind. Learn more about the guidelines and strategic plans to which we hold ourselves accountable.
Sustainability Guidelines and Reports
Annually, TVA publishes a Sustainability Report to communicate its sustainability performance, referencing industry standards and guidelines, and aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. The TVA Sustainability Report provides a comprehensive view of TVA’s progress as a business and community partner to build a stronger, more sustainable future, together, and demonstrates TVA’s efforts and longstanding commitment to sustainability and transparency.
TVA also issues its Federal Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan in compliance with Executive Order 14057: Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and the remaining sections of Executive Order 13834. These EOs and other applicable regulations challenge TVA and other federal agencies to develop, implement and annually update sustainability plans in a manner that increases efficiency, optimizes performance, eliminates unnecessary use of resources and protects the environment. Even before the passage of these EOs and other legislation on energy efficiency at federal facilities, TVA had a long history of sustainability-focused work including reducing its building energy use.
TVA publishes its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report for the financial community using the utility-focused and investor-driven reporting template developed by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). The ESG/Sustainability reporting template is a summary of key sustainability metrics for voluntary use. TVA participates in this reporting because sustainability performance is paramount to its customers and other stakeholders.
TVA submits its Federal Climate Adaptation Plan in accordance with Executive Order 14008. As a federal agency, TVA includes climate change adaptation in its decision-making. TVA manages the potential effects of climate change on its mission, programs and operations within its environmental management processes. As a federal agency, TVA includes climate change adaptation in its decision-making. TVA manages the potential effects of climate change on its mission, programs and operations within its environmental management processes. TVA is also participating in a three-year project to access future climate change projections and the potential impact on TVA’s operations. This effort is a partnership between TVA, Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office and Oak Ridge National Lab.
Strategic Planning Reports
In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget's Circular No. A-11, federal agencies are required to prepare a strategic plan that includes select information regarding their mission, strategic goals, objectives and performance measures.
Financial Reports
TVA issues quarterly financial reports at the end of the first, second, and third quarters and publishes its annual report at the end of the fiscal year. The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget's Circular No. A-11, federal agencies are required to prepare a performance budget, which fully integrates the annual performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act with other elements of the agency budget request, for submission to Congress in February as part of the congressional budget justification.
The performance budget links TVA's strategic goals with related outcome-oriented long-term and annual performance goals and with the costs specific to the activities that contribute to the achievement of those goals.
Legal Reports
Local Power Company Commercial Broadband Investments
To enhance ratepayer transparency, TVA is posting information regarding its authorization of Local Power Company (LPC) investments in commercial broadband. A 2019 TVA Board action amended the Use of Revenues Guidelines to provide LPCs an option to invest electric system revenues, and/or pledge electric system assets, in support of commercial broadband, subject to TVA’s review and authorization.
TVA implemented its standard commercial broadband authorization process in November 2019. In September 2021, TVA implemented an abbreviated version of its standard commercial broadband authorization process known as the modified authorization process for LPCs needing limited or smaller amounts of electric system funding to deploy broadband. The modified process reduces the amount of information required from LPCs and TVA’s review time, balancing the need for information and level of scrutiny with potential risks associated with the amount of the investment.
Both the standard and modified processes seek to ensure that any LPC investment of electric system revenues, and/or pledge of electric system assets, in support of commercial broadband is consistent with TVA’s retail regulatory framework, to include no electric system subsidization of commercial broadband, and investments are fully repaid to the electric system. Upon TVA’s authorization, using either process, the terms and conditions of the investment and its repayment are documented as an amendment to the power contract.
Once TVA has authorized an LPC’s investment in commercial broadband, TVA will post its authorization here. TVA’s posting will include the amount authorized as electric’s investment in commercial broadband purposes, the repayment term, any projected rate impacts, and the LPC’s point of contact.
The LPC is then required to provide notice to its ratepayers through a TVA-approved means designed to reach the majority of its ratepayers. The LPC’s notice includes TVA’s authorization; the broadband entity’s legal name; a description of the project; the total amount of the LPC’s investment in electric and non-electric fiber; loan amount to the broadband entity; a statement acknowledging the broadband entity is required to repay the loan; a statement about whether the investment will result in any projected rate impacts, to include the duration of those impacts; and the LPC’s contact information for ratepayer questions.
TVA’s Determination – Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation’s Acquisition of the City of Murfreesboro’s Electric Department
On January 16, 2020, MTEMC and MED formally requested TVA to consent to the assignment of the City of Murfreesboro’s wholesale power contract with TVA to MTEMC, thereby allowing MTEMC to acquire MED.
Numerous TVA subject matter experts conducted a robust and thorough evaluation of this proposed acquisition, applying TVA’s mergers, acquisitions and consolidations review guidelines to determine whether or not the transaction is in the best interest of ratepayers and likely to produce material net benefits for both sets of ratepayers. Following its evaluation, TVA has determined that the acquisition satisfies the requirements of its review guidelines and consents to the assignment of its wholesale power contract with conditions. TVA has informed MTEMC and MED of its consent and the conditions.
As the retail rate regulator of MTEMC and MED and other local power companies that distribute TVA power, TVA takes proposed mergers, acquisitions and consolidations by and between distributors very seriously to ensure ratepayer interests are protected. You can find additional details about TVA’s determination of the MTEMC/MED acquisition at this link.
Determination on Regulation of Pole Attachments
The TVA Act vests broad discretion in the TVA Board of Directors to establish terms and conditions and rules and regulations related to the sale of TVA power. TVA is the exclusive retail rate regulator of Local Power Companies (LPCs) that distribute TVA power. Additionally, through the wholesale power contract with each LPC, TVA seeks to ensure that LPC systems are operated for the benefit of the electric consumers and that rates are kept as low as feasible.
At the February 11, 2016 Board Meeting, the TVA Board adopted a Determination on Regulation of Pole Attachments.
Approval of this Board action establishes the methodology that LPCs will use to determine the rates they charge for attachments to distribution poles and is based on fully allocating individual LPCs’ costs of pole ownership fairly to the pole owner and attaching parties.
This action supports the Board’s regulatory responsibility to keep Valley rates as low as feasible and ensures appropriate costs are borne by attaching parties to prevent subsidization of non-electric activities by electric ratepayers.
Local Power Company Reports
Holly Springs Utility Department Storm Restoration Report
On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, TVA presented a report during the Holly Springs Board of Aldermen meeting in Mississippi based on a review of the Holly Springs Utility Department’s (HSUD’s) storm restoration efforts. At the meeting, TVA agreed to wait for 14 days to share the report publicly. You many now access the report here.
The review was prompted by an unprecedented number of complaints from HSUD customers that were submitted through TVA’s Complaint Resolution Process after two weather events (April 2022 and February 2023) caused prolonged and widespread outages. The complaints included allegations of preferential treatment about how electric service was restored; TVA did not conclude that any preferential treatment was applied.
The assessment included HSUD’s compliance with the wholesale power contract’s financial reporting requirements and found deficiencies in the timely submission of required financial information. As a result, TVA has begun conducting a full compliance assessment.
The report provided to the Holly Springs Mayor and Board of Aldermen includes 11 factors that contributed to the prolonged period of power restoration, along with 14 areas for improvement that we believe will improve HSUD’s ability to serve all of its customers with safe, reliable power. The report also identified resources that TVA and the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association are offering to HSUD.
TVA exercises regulatory oversight of several aspects of an LPC’s financial health, rates, and service practices, but each LPC served by TVA is responsible for managing its own electric system operations. The discussion on March 7 with the Mayor and Aldermen emphasized it is their responsibility as the local governing body to ensure safe, reliable operation of distribution system.
Holly Springs Utility Department Storm Restoration Report Update
TVA issued an update to the Holly Springs Utility Department Restoration Report to the mayor and board of aldermen on May 10, 2023.