All Reports

We evaluated the process TVA uses to verify the accuracy of payments made to the Department of Labor (DOL) for workers compensation benefits. We determined TVA did not have a formal process to verify the accuracy of payments made for schedule awards. Although TVA’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) controls verified certain aspects of the DOL billings, the SOX controls did not include steps to verify the accuracy of the elements in award of compensation letters and, as a result, some errors were not identified.

The TVA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) meets its legal requirement to report to Congress on its results twice a year through its Semiannual Report to Congress. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $3.3 million in funds TVA could put to better use and recoveries.

The Office of the Inspector General audited TVA’s compliance with Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) memorandum (M) 15-13, Policy to Require Secure Connections across Federal Websites and Web Services, and Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) binding operational directive (BOD) 18-01, Enhance E mail and Web Security, regarding Web site and e-mail security practices. We determined that TVA was not in compliance with OMB M-15-13 and DHS BOD-18-01. In addition, we found TVA’s Web site inventory was incomplete. TVA management agreed with our findings and recommendations.

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) drawing program is designed and maintained to document the configuration of TVA’s systems, structures, and components. Drawings are utilized for a variety of reasons, including plant operation, maintenance activities, troubleshooting, and to establish clearance boundaries for isolating equipment so that work can be performed safely. Modifications to configuration should be captured through TVA’s Design Change Notice (DCN) process to ensure configuration control is maintained and drawings are updated to reflect the changes.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted a review of the Transmission Operations, Reliability, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (TORS) organization to identify operational and cultural strengths and risks that could impact TORS’ organizational effectiveness. Our report identified strengths within TORS related to (1) organizational alignment for the majority of TORS’ personnel, (2) teamwork within departments, and (3) leadership of first-line supervisors.

Due to the importance of maintaining equipment in good operating condition and concerns raised during past Office of the Inspector General reviews, we conducted an evaluation to determine if (1) Coal Operations fully implemented the work management process improvements recommended by Reliability Management Group (RMG) and (2) performance metrics indicated the changes had improved work management. We were unable to determine if Coal Operations fully implemented work management process improvements recommended by RMG because there were no formal recommendations made for coal plants.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted a review of the Information Technology (IT) Corporate Solutions organization to identify operational and cultural strengths and risks that could impact IT Corporate Solutions' organizational effectiveness. Our report identified strengths related to (1) organizational alignment in two departments, (2) positive interactions with management in one department, and (3) teamwork within and outside of Corporate Solutions' departments.

Based upon concerns regarding the reliability of data in Maximo, we conducted an evaluation of inventory data in Maximo to determine if (1) data entered into key inventory fields in Maximo was valid and (2) key inventory fields were utilized consistently. We found most key inventory fields were utilized; however, some of the key fields contained invalid data. Specifically, we determined there was invalid data in fields related to (1) quality assurance levels, (2) inventory status, (3) item descriptions, (4) units of measure, and (5) sites.

The Office of the Inspector General previously conducted an evaluation of Materials and Transportation Management (M&TM) (Evaluation 2016-15586, July 27, 2017) to identify strengths and risks that could affect M&TM's organizational effectiveness. Our report identified several strengths and risks along with recommendations for addressing those risks. We subsequently completed a follow-up evaluation (Evaluation 2018-15578, September 28, 2018) that assessed management's actions to address risks from our initial organizational effectiveness evaluation.

Due to the importance of an effective response in the event of an emergency, we conducted an evaluation to determine if (1) emergency response plans at gas plants were up to date and (2) required systems were available and functional.We found 10 of 17 emergency response plans for gas plants were not reviewed on a timely basis based on TVA’s requirement for an annual review, and all contained inaccurate contact information. We also found some systems required in emergency response plans were not available or functional.