All Reports

The OIG audited Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) craft labor staffing, which was identified by TVA as one of its top five risks in two risk categories, talent management and capacity expansion and construction. Our objectives were to assess TVA's mitigation of craft labor risks associated with competition from other companies and a shrinking labor pool and its process for identifying craft labor risks. We focused on TVA's plans with regard to contractor craft workforce.

The OIG performed an interim audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Bechtel Power Corporation for providing engineering, procurement, and construction services in support of the completion of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2. Our audit included about $397 million in costs billed to TVA from October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009. Our objective was to determine if Bechtel billed TVA in accordance with the contract terms and conditions.

The OIG completed agreed-upon procedures to assist the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) in determining TVA's compliance with annual reporting requirements of the CRS Green Pricing Accreditation Program for the year ended December 31, 2011. The results of procedures applied to TVA's renewable energy initiative, "Green Power Switch," were provided to the Center for Resource Solutions. Summary Only

The OIG audited $35.7 million in costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Trans-Ash, Inc. The contracts provided for Trans-Ash to perform(a) assistance in the off-site fly ash utilization project at Johnsonville Fossil Plant,(b) ash pond management services at Johnsonville Fossil Plant, and (c) additional work described in separate Task Agreements (TAO) executed by TVA and Trans-Ash. In summary, we determined Trans-Ash billed TVA (1) $1,479,630 for work that was not authorized under the contracts, and (2) $186,955 in excessive and unsupported costs.

The OIG audited the electric system of Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division (Memphis), a distributor based in Memphis, Tennessee. The objective of the audit was to determine compliance with provisions of the power contract between TVA and Memphis during the period January 2009 through December 2010.

The OIG assessed whether TVA performed adequate analysis in its decision to implement a new expense management application. Auditors reviewed the analysis performed to make the decision to implement the application as of May 31, 2011, as well as other documentation supporting that decision.

The OIG audited $15.4 million in costs billed to TVA by Pressure's On, Inc. (POI), for providing hydro blasting services at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) locations, including $14.82 million in costs paid by TVA to POI as of January 16, 2009. In addition, the OIG reviewed $596,789 in costs for hydro blasting services incorrectly billed under a separate contract that TVA had with POI for vacuuming services only.

The OIG audited the electric system of Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), a distributor based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The objective of the audit was to determine compliance with provisions of the power contract between TVA and KUB for the audit period July 2008 through June 2010.

The WBN Unit 2 construction project has experienced significant schedule and cost overruns. The project was originally expected to be completed in October 2012 at a cost of just under $2.5 billion. However, TVA will not meet these targets. On April 5, 2012, TVA announced an additional $1.5 billion to $2 billion would be required to complete the project with an estimated time of completion between September and December 2015.

In light of recent gas-related explosions in the utility industry, we conducted a review of Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) safety of gas line and gas plant operations. The objective of our review was to determine if TVA has taken appropriate steps to identify and mitigate risk associated with the operation of gas plants and gas lines. We found that the vast majority of gas-related explosions were gas line related. According to TVA personnel, TVA is not responsible for gas until it reaches the reducing stations on TVA property.