All Reports

We audited $18.4 million of payments TVA made to a contractor for chemicals and water treatment services during Fiscal Year 2004 and found 23 percent of the payments were authorized by technical contract managers who did not have adequate controls in place to ensure the products or services had been received. Additionally, we found the prices billed by the contractor were in compliance with the contract except for (1) $6,266 of overbillings, and (2) an estimated $322,579 of payments for products with unsupported prices.

We reviewed adjustments to provisional billings of indirect costs submitted by a contractor. We determined the contractor's adjustments for calendar years 2002 through 2004 were overstated $80,615 due to errors in the contractor's reconciliation of previously billed costs. Also, we found the contractor owed TVA additional credits totaling $28,829. The contractor agreed with our findings and submitted adjusted invoices that included credit for the questioned amounts. Summary Only

As part of our annual audit plan, we audited the asset retirement obligation (ARO) controls relied on by management to ensure the ARO balances in the TVA's financial statements are accurate and complete. Controls over the balance in this and other related ARO accounts included quarterly reconciliations of the general ledger balances and underlying support for the cost estimates maintained in a worksheet format for each plant.

Winning Performance is the process TVA uses to manage its performance. It is a single, integrated process that includes strategic planning, operational planning and budgeting, performance monitoring and reporting, and employee development and compensation. We performed procedures agreed-upon by management to assist in determining the validity of the fiscal year 2005 payout.

The Office of the Inspector General was requested by the Vice President, BFN Unit 1 Restart, to review tool management associated with the restart project. TVA is providing all necessary tools for the BFN Unit 1 Restart. Work is primarily being completed by engineering and modification contractors, 1,500 of which are craft laborers who have tool needs/requirements. We assessed the processes and key control activities used to track and account for tools purchased for the BFN Unit 1 Restart and on-going BFN operations.

We reviewed a contractor's material cost adjustments and profit sharing calculations and determined the contractor (1) had understated the material cost adjustment due TVA by $5,933 and (2) could not provide verifiable documentation of the material weights used in its catalyst production. TVA management agreed with our findings and is taking action to recover the amount owed to TVA.

Visitors to the Inspector General's office here at TVA must walk past a large picture of the Fontana Hydro Plant. The inscription at Fontana, etched 63 years ago, reads, “1942 - Built for the people of the United States of America.” This simple phrase epitomizes the vision that gave birth to TVA. TVA was not to be merely another well-intentioned government program. The focus was not bricks and mortar. The focus was the American people.

We compared invoiced vendor/terminal weights to TVA delivered weights for both WCF rail and barge coal deliveries. We found (1) significant variances between vendor/terminal invoiced weights and TVA delivered weights, (2) weights were not recorded for many coal shipments, and (3) delivery weight documentation requirements or retention policy did not exist. Management agreed with our findings and plans to initiate corrective actions. OIG Investigations is reviewing selected trend variances to determine if any warrant further inquiry. Summary Only

We reviewed controls pertaining to program and data backup storage and retrieval for TVA's data centers and the physical controls of an offsite storage facility to determine if controls surrounding the backup storage and retrieval process were adequate to ensure ongoing system operations, and if physical and environmental controls were sufficient to protect the off-site facilities from unauthorized access and environmental hazards. We determined that both the (1) storage and retrieval process controls and (2) environmental controls need improvement.

We reviewed $615.5 million TVA paid a contractor from 1999 through 2004 for providing modification and supplemental maintenance services for TVA's fossil plants.