Tennessee Valley Authority - Quarter Report: 2008 December (Form 10-Q)
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark
One)
x QUARTERLY
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13, 15(d), OR 37 OF THE
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
quarterly period ended December 31, 2008
OR
o TRANSITION
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
For the
transition period from ____ to ____
Commission
file number 000-52313
TENNESSEE VALLEY
AUTHORITY
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
A
corporate agency of the United States created by an act of
Congress
(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
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62-0474417
(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
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400
W. Summit Hill Drive
Knoxville,
Tennessee
(Address
of principal executive offices)
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37902
(Zip
Code)
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(865) 632-2101
(Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code)
None
(Former
name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last
report)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to
be filed by Section 13, 15(d), or 37 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to
such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes xNo o
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting
company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,”
“accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the
Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large
accelerated filer o
|
Accelerated
filer o
|
Non-accelerated
filer x
(Do
not check if a smaller reporting company)
|
Smaller
reporting company o
|
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in
Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes o No x
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This
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Quarterly Report”) contains forward-looking
statements relating to future events and future performance. All
statements other than those that are purely historical may be forward-looking
statements.
In certain cases, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,”
“should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “project,” “plan,”
“predict,” “assume,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “objective,” “possible,”
“probably,” “likely,” “potential,” or other similar
expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to:
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•
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Statements
regarding strategic objectives;
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•
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Projections
regarding potential rate actions;
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•
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Estimates
regarding power and energy
forecasts;
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•
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Expectations
about the adequacy of TVA’s funding of its pension plans, nuclear
decommissioning trust, and asset retirement
trust;
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•
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Estimated
costs associated with the ash spill at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant;
and
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•
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Estimated
costs to comply with the order that TVA received in the case brought by
North Carolina alleging public
nuisance.
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Although the Tennessee Valley Authority
(“TVA”) believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements
are reasonable, TVA does not guarantee the accuracy of these
statements. Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These
factors include, among other things:
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•
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New
laws, regulations, and administrative
orders;
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•
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Loss
of customers;
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•
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The
performance or failure of TVA’s generation, transmission, and related
assets (including waste storage facilities such as ash
ponds);
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•
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Disruption
of fuel supplies, which may result from, among other things, weather
conditions, production or transportation difficulties, labor challenges,
or environmental regulations affecting TVA’s fuel
suppliers;
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•
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Purchased
power price volatility;
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•
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Events
at facilities not owned by TVA that affect the supply of water to TVA’s
generation facilities;
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•
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Compliance
with existing or future environmental laws and
regulations;
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•
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Significant
delays or cost overruns in construction of generation and transmission
assets or the cleanup of the Kingston ash
spill;
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•
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Inability
to obtain regulatory approval for the construction of generation
assets;
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•
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Significant
changes in demand for electricity;
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•
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Legal
and administrative proceedings, including awards of damages and amounts
paid in settlements;
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•
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Weather
conditions, including drought;
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•
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Failure
of TVA’s transmission facilities or the transmission facilities of other
utilities;
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•
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Events
at a nuclear facility, even one that is not operated by or licensed to
TVA;
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•
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Catastrophic
events such as fires, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, pandemics, wars,
terrorist activities, and other similar events, especially if these events
occur in or near TVA’s service
area;
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•
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Reliability
of purchased power providers, fuel suppliers, and other
counterparties;
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•
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Changes
in the market price of commodities such as coal, uranium, natural gas,
fuel oil, construction materials, electricity, and emission
allowances;
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•
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Changes
in the prices of equity securities, debt securities, and other
investments;
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•
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Changes
in interest rates;
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Creditworthiness
of TVA, its counterparties, and its
customers;
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•
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Rising
pension costs and health care
expenses;
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•
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Increases
in TVA’s financial liability for decommissioning its nuclear facilities
and retiring other assets;
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•
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Unplanned
contributions to TVA’s pension or other postretirement benefit plans or to
TVA’s nuclear decommissioning
trust;
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•
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Limitations
on TVA’s ability to borrow money;
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•
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Changes
in the economy;
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•
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Ineffectiveness
of TVA’s disclosure controls and procedures and its internal control over
financial reporting;
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•
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Changes
in accounting standards;
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•
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The
loss of TVA’s ability to use regulatory
accounting;
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•
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Problems
attracting and retaining skilled
workers;
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•
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Changes
in technology;
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•
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Changes
in TVA’s plans for allocating its financial resources among
projects;
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•
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Differences
between estimates of revenues and expenses and actual revenues and
expenses incurred;
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•
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Volatility
in financial markets;
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•
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Changes
in the market for TVA securities;
and
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•
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Unforeseeable
events.
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Additionally, other risks that may cause actual results to differ materially
from the predicted results are set forth in Item 1A, Risk Factors and Item 7,
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations in TVA’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2008 (the “Annual Report”) and in Part I, Item 2, Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and
Part II, Item 1A, Risk Factors in this Quarterly Report. New factors
emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all
such factors or to assess the extent to which any factor or combination of
factors may impact TVA’s business or cause results to differ materially from
those contained in any forward-looking statement.
TVA undertakes no obligation to update
any forward-looking statement to reflect developments that occur after the
statement is made or for any other reason.
Fiscal
Year
Unless otherwise indicated, years
(2009, 2008, etc.) in this Quarterly Report refer to TVA’s fiscal years ended
September 30.
Notes
References to “Notes” are to the Notes
to Financial Statements contained in Part I, Item 1, Financial Statements in
this Quarterly Report.
Available
Information
TVA's Annual Reports on Form 10-K,
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments
to those reports are made available on TVA's web site, free of charge, as soon
as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or
furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). TVA's
web site is www.tva.gov. Information contained on TVA’s web site
shall not be deemed to be incorporated into, or to be a part of, this Quarterly
Report. In addition, the public may read and copy any reports or
other information that TVA files with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room
at 100 F Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. The public may obtain
information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at
1-800-SEC-0330. TVA's SEC reports are also available to the public
without charge from the web site maintained by the SEC at
www.sec.gov.
TENNESSEE
VALLEY AUTHORITY
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(UNAUDITED)
For the
three months ended December 31
(in
millions)
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Operating
revenues
|
||||||||
Sales
of electricity
|
||||||||
Municipalities
and cooperatives
|
$ | 2,569 | $ | 1,913 | ||||
Industries
directly served
|
442 | 392 | ||||||
Federal
agencies and other
|
38 | 25 | ||||||
Other
revenue
|
28 | 30 | ||||||
Total
operating revenues
|
3,077 | 2,360 | ||||||
Operating
expenses
|
||||||||
Fuel
and purchased power
|
1,383 | 922 | ||||||
Operating
and maintenance
|
590 | 580 | ||||||
Depreciation,
amortization, and accretion
|
396 | 390 | ||||||
Tax
equivalents
|
148 | 120 | ||||||
Environmental
clean up costs – Kingston ash spill (Note 1)
|
525 | – | ||||||
Total
operating expenses
|
3,042 | 2,012 | ||||||
Operating
income
|
35 | 348 | ||||||
Other
(expense) income, net
|
(9 | ) | 3 | |||||
Interest
expense
|
||||||||
Interest
on debt and leaseback obligations
|
334 | 341 | ||||||
Amortization
of debt discount, issue, and reacquisition costs, net (Note
2)
|
5 | 5 | ||||||
Allowance
for funds used during construction and nuclear fuel
expenditures
|
(8 | ) | (3 | ) | ||||
Net
interest expense
|
331 | 343 | ||||||
Net
(loss) income
|
$ | (305 | ) | $ | 8 | |||
The accompanying Notes are an integral
part of these financial statements.
TENNESSEE
VALLEY AUTHORITY
BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)
(in
millions)
ASSETS
|
||||||||
December
31
|
September
30
|
|||||||
2008
|
2008
|
|||||||
Current
assets
|
(Unaudited)
|
|||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
$ | 153 | $ | 213 | ||||
Restricted
cash and investments
|
– | 106 | ||||||
Accounts
receivable, net
|
1,393 | 1,405 | ||||||
Inventories
and other, net
|
876 | 779 | ||||||
Total
current assets
|
2,422 | 2,503 | ||||||
Property,
plant, and equipment
|
||||||||
Completed
plant
|
40,468 | 40,079 | ||||||
Less
accumulated depreciation
|
(17,260 | ) | (16,983 | ) | ||||
Net
completed plant
|
23,208 | 23,096 | ||||||
Construction
in progress
|
1,855 | 1,892 | ||||||
Nuclear
fuel and capital leases
|
856 | 791 | ||||||
Total
property, plant, and equipment, net
|
25,919 | 25,779 | ||||||
Investment
funds
|
765 | 956 | ||||||
Regulatory
and other long-term assets
|
||||||||
Deferred
nuclear generating units
|
2,640 | 2,738 | ||||||
Other
regulatory assets
|
5,299 | 4,166 | ||||||
Subtotal
|
7,939 | 6,904 | ||||||
Other
long-term assets
|
978 | 995 | ||||||
Total
regulatory and other long-term assets
|
8,917 | 7,899 | ||||||
Total
assets
|
$ | 38,023 | $ | 37,137 | ||||
LIABILITIES
AND PROPRIETARY CAPITAL
|
||||||||
Current
liabilities
|
||||||||
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities
|
$ | 1,564 | $ | 1,333 | ||||
Environmental
clean up costs – Kingston ash spill (Note 1)
|
525 | – | ||||||
Collateral
funds held
|
– | 103 | ||||||
Accrued
interest
|
312 | 441 | ||||||
Current
portion of leaseback obligations
|
54 | 54 | ||||||
Current
portion of energy prepayment obligations
|
106 | 106 | ||||||
Short-term
debt, net
|
2,393 | 185 | ||||||
Current
maturities of long-term debt
|
679 | 2,030 | ||||||
Total
current liabilities
|
5,633 | 4,252 | ||||||
Long-term
liabilities
|
||||||||
Other
long-term liabilities
|
4,634 | 3,514 | ||||||
Regulatory
liabilities
|
530 | 860 | ||||||
Asset
retirement obligations
|
2,350 | 2,318 | ||||||
Leaseback
obligations
|
1,295 | 1,299 | ||||||
Energy
prepayment obligations
|
901 | 927 | ||||||
Total
long-term liabilities
|
9,710 | 8,918 | ||||||
Long-term
debt, net
|
19,603 | 20,404 | ||||||
Total
liabilities
|
34,946 | 33,574 | ||||||
Commitments and
contingencies
|
||||||||
Proprietary
capital
|
||||||||
Appropriation
investment
|
4,718 | 4,723 | ||||||
Retained
earnings
|
2,264 | 2,571 | ||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss
|
(210 | ) | (37 | ) | ||||
Accumulated
net expense of nonpower programs
|
(3,695 | ) | (3,694 | ) | ||||
Total
proprietary capital
|
3,077 | 3,563 | ||||||
Total
liabilities and proprietary capital
|
$ | 38,023 | $ | 37,137 | ||||
The
accompanying Notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
TENNESSEE
VALLEY AUTHORITY
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)
For the
three months ended December 31
(in
millions)
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Cash
flows from operating activities
|
||||||||
Net
(loss) income
|
$ | (305 | ) | $ | 8 | |||
Adjustments
to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating
activities
|
||||||||
Depreciation,
amortization, and accretion
|
401 | 395 | ||||||
Nuclear
refueling outage amortization
|
29 | 25 | ||||||
Amortization
of nuclear fuel
|
51 | 44 | ||||||
Non-cash
retirement benefit expense
|
35 | 35 | ||||||
Prepayment
credits applied to revenue
|
(26 | ) | (26 | ) | ||||
Fuel
cost adjustment deferral
|
395 | 34 | ||||||
Environmental
clean up costs - Kingston ash spill
|
525 | – | ||||||
Other,
net
|
(11 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||
Changes
in current assets and liabilities
|
||||||||
Accounts
receivable, net
|
(12 | ) | 247 | |||||
Inventories
and other
|
(133 | ) | (103 | ) | ||||
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities
|
(19 | ) | (200 | ) | ||||
Accrued
interest
|
(129 | ) | (100 | ) | ||||
Pension
contributions
|
– | (19 | ) | |||||
Refueling
outage costs
|
(30 | ) | (36 | ) | ||||
Other,
net
|
(2 | ) | – | |||||
Net
cash provided by operating activities
|
769 | 302 | ||||||
Cash
flows from investing activities
|
||||||||
Construction
expenditures
|
(421 | ) | (365 | ) | ||||
Nuclear
fuel expenditures
|
(168 | ) | (137 | ) | ||||
Change
in restricted cash and investments
|
(17 | ) | 23 | |||||
Change
in collateral funds
|
(455 | ) | – | |||||
Purchases
of investments, net
|
(1 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||
Loans
and other receivables
|
||||||||
Advances
|
(2 | ) | (4 | ) | ||||
Repayments
|
2 | 3 | ||||||
Net
cash used in investing activities
|
(1,062 | ) | (482 | ) | ||||
Cash
flows from financing activities
|
||||||||
Long-term
debt
|
||||||||
Issues
|
39 | 41 | ||||||
Redemptions
and repurchases
|
(2,000 | ) | – | |||||
Short-term
issues, net
|
2,208 | 143 | ||||||
Payments
on leaseback financing
|
(4 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||
Financing
costs, net
|
(1 | ) | – | |||||
Payments
to U.S. Treasury
|
(8 | ) | (10 | ) | ||||
Other
|
(1 | ) | – | |||||
Net
cash provided by financing activities
|
233 | 173 | ||||||
Net
change in cash and cash equivalents
|
(60 | ) | (7 | ) | ||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at beginning of period
|
213 | 165 | ||||||
Cash
and cash equivalents at end of period
|
$ | 153 | $ | 158 | ||||
The
accompanying Notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
TENNESSEE
VALLEY AUTHORITY
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN PROPRIETARY CAPITAL (UNAUDITED)
For the
three months ended December 31, 2008 and 2007
(in
millions)
Appropriation
Investment
|
Retained
Earnings
|
Accumulated
Other Comprehensive (Loss)
|
Accumulated
Net Expense of Stewardship Programs
|
Total
|
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Balance
at September 30, 2007
|
$ | 4,743 | $ | 1,763 | $ | (19 | ) | $ | (3,683 | ) | $ | 2,804 | ||||||||||||
Net
income (loss)
|
– | 10 | – | (2 | ) | 8 | $ | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
Return
on Power Facility Appropriation Investment
|
– | (5 | ) | – | – | (5 | ) | – | ||||||||||||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss
|
– | – | (4 | ) | – | (4 | ) | (4 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Return
of Power Facility Appropriation Investment
|
(5 | ) | – | – | – | (5 | ) | – | ||||||||||||||||
Balance
at December 31, 2007 (unaudited)
|
$ | 4,738 | $ | 1,768 | $ | (23 | ) | $ | (3,685 | ) | $ | 2,798 | $ | 4 | ||||||||||
Balance
at September 30, 2008
|
$ | 4,723 | $ | 2,571 | $ | (37 | ) | $ | (3,694 | ) | $ | 3,563 | ||||||||||||
Net
loss
|
– | (304 | ) | – | (1 | ) | (305 | ) | $ | (305 | ) | |||||||||||||
Return
on Power Facility Appropriation Investment
|
– | (3 | ) | – | – | (3 | ) | – | ||||||||||||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss
|
– | – | (173 | ) | – | (173 | ) | (173 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Return
of Power Facility Appropriation Investment
|
(5 | ) | – | – | – | (5 | ) | – | ||||||||||||||||
Balance
at December 31, 2008 (unaudited)
|
$ | 4,718 | $ | 2,264 | $ | (210 | ) | $ | (3,695 | ) | $ | 3,077 | $ | (478 | ) |
The
accompanying Notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)
(Dollars
in millions except where noted)
1.
Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Spill
During the first quarter, an event at
Tennessee Valley Authority’s (“TVA”) Kingston Fossil Plant (“Kingston”), which
TVA operates pursuant to the TVA Act, was reportable to federal, state, and
local environmental and emergency response agencies.
The
Event. On December
22, 2008, a dike failed at Kingston located near Kingston, Tennessee, allowing
approximately five million cubic yards of water and coal fly ash to flow out
onto approximately 300 acres, including approximately 50 acres of privately
owned land. Some of the material flowed into the nearby Watts Bar Reservoir at
Emory River mile 2.5. The ash spill rendered three homes
uninhabitable because of structural damage. The initial entry of the
ash into Watts Bar Reservoir also created a large wave of water that damaged or
destroyed approximately 50 boat docks and caused other water damage. The event
also temporarily interrupted utilities to nearby residents, blocked two local
roads, and blocked a rail spur to the Kingston plant.
At this
time, the cause of the event is not known. TVA has retained an independent
engineering firm to perform a root-cause analysis to determine the
cause. Additionally, TVA’s Office of Inspector General is performing
an independent assessment of the cause of the event.
Kingston
is one of the larger fossil plants operated by TVA. It generates 10 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to supply the needs of about
700,000 homes in the Tennessee Valley. While TVA has been
conservatively operating the plant since the event, TVA’s ability to operate the
plant itself was not affected by the ash release, although constraints
associated with the containment of fly ash produced by future operations could
limit the plant’s availability at some time in the future.
Response
and Cleanup. Fly ash is a by-product of a coal-fired plant. It is a gray
material with a consistency similar to flour. It is made up mostly of silica,
similar to sand. Though the ash itself is inert, it may contain trace amounts of
other substances that occur naturally in coal, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead,
mercury, and selenium. It is used in building products such as cement, mortar,
stucco, and grout. It also is used in some potting soils and as a soil
conditioner. TVA has sold fly ash commercially. At Kingston, fly ash
is placed in one of three wet ash containment areas. The involved containment
area covered approximately 84 acres. The depth of the containment area was
approximately 60 feet. The event resulted in about 60 acres of
contained wet ash being displaced.
Cleanup
and recovery efforts are being conducted in coordination with federal and state
agencies. Starting on the day of the event, TVA put equipment and personnel in
place to install floating booms to minimize the movement of cenospheres (inert
hollow spheres of sand-like material created in the coal-fired boiler) along the
river surface and to prepare for cleanup of the floating material.
Progress has been made in removing the ash from two local roads. The two roads
are still closed to public traffic but have been cleared sufficiently for use by
construction equipment. The rail spur has been cleared, and the plant
has resumed receiving shipments of coal by rail.
TVA is constructing structures in the
waterway, one weir and one dike, as part of the recovery. The weir is underwater
and the dike is above water. The weir allows water flow to continue
while trapping the ash material. The dike is used to keep
additional ash from moving into the river. The coal ash in the Emory
River and the temporary weir have raised the flood elevations approximately 11
miles upstream from Kingston through Harriman. Until the ash and the
weir are removed, there is an increased risk of flooding for some river-front
properties. The change in the flood elevation is only a temporary one
until TVA removes the ash and underwater weir from the river. After
the ash and weir are removed, the flood elevations will return to levels
established before the spill. TVA’s financial responsibility related
to flood damages will also end at this time.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed
approximately four miles of the Emory River to navigation for 30 days subsequent
to the event, except for vessels involved in the sampling and recovery
operations. The Emory River has now been reopened by the U.S. Coast
Guard with navigation precautions in the area of the spill.
TVA does not currently have an
estimate as to how long the recovery process will take, but has begun to
estimate the cost of associated cleanup and recovery activities. TVA has
recognized an accrual of $525 million at December 31, 2008, in connection with
the current expected cleanup costs related to the event. Costs
incurred through December 31, 2008, totaled $4 million and are included in the
accrual above. Through January 31, 2009, actual costs incurred
totaled $31 million. The accrual currently includes, among
other things, a best estimate of costs to contain the cenospheres, reconstruct
roads and railways, perform sampling and analysis, and construct the weir and
dike and the low end of a range of estimates to remove an estimated 5 million
cubic yards of ash. The cost of the removal of the ash is in large
part dependent on the final disposal plan approved by regulatory authorities. At
this time, the full plan has not been filed with or approved by the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”). TVA did submit
its proposed Phase I Ash Removal Plan to the Environmental Protection Agency
(“EPA”), TDEC, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on February 5, 2009,
requesting approval. The proposed plan contains steps to begin to
remove ash from the Emory River channel by dredging the ash from the river
channel, pumping the material through a pipe to the on-site sluice channel,
allowing it to dry, and then removing it to a temporary storage location
on-site. The final plan may include various methods of disposal
ranging from storing ash on site to moving the ash offsite by barge or truck to
a developed landfill. Due to the uncertainty at this time of the plan
to be proposed, a range of reasonable estimates has been developed and the low
end of the range has been accrued. The range of estimated cost varies
from approximately $525 million to approximately $825 million, depending largely
on the method of disposal that will be used. This range could change
significantly if TVA is required to use a method of disposal other than what has
been considered at this time or the amount of ash to be disposed of
changes. The range can also be impacted by new laws and regulations
that may be imposed on TVA as part of changes to ash disposal regulations being
discussed at both the state and federal level.
No
amounts are included in the estimates above for regulatory actions, or
litigation, or any fines or penalties that may be assessed because TVA cannot
estimate these at this time. Also, all of the regulatory requirements for the
final closure of the site, the continued ground water monitoring requirements,
and any ongoing environmental impact studies that may be required are not known
at this time and are not included in the estimate. As ash removal
continues, it is possible that other environmentally sensitive material
potentially in the river sediment before the ash spill may be
uncovered. If other materials are identified, additional remediation
not included in the above estimates may be required.
TVA will
also be working with state and federal agencies to determine the extent of the
environmental impact of the ash release and the steps necessary to monitor and
restore the environment over the long term. At this time, TVA does
not know the extent of the damage or the remedies that will be required for
restoration.
Post-Spill Testing. The
EPA and TDEC began water quality testing shortly after the
event. TDEC reports that samples received to date show that municipal
water supplies meet drinking water standards. Samples taken of raw
water in the river also meet drinking water standards except for a few instances
for arsenic immediate to the site. A sample right after the spill and
samples after a large rain event showed total arsenic in the water to be above
drinking water standards, but still below fish and aquatic life
standards. All EPA, TDEC, and TVA water treatment facility sampling
results from Rockwood, Harriman, Cumberland, and Kingston, Tennessee indicate
that the municipal drinking water, which is filtered and treated by municipal
treatment facilities, continues to meet water quality standards.
Through
January 15, 2009, TDEC has sampled more than 65 private groundwater wells within
a four mile radius of the plant. All sample results were within safe
drinking water standards.
More than
9,200 mobile air monitoring samples have been collected offsite and in
residential areas. All sample results have been within the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Particulate Matter.
EPA soil
testing reports indicate that, except for arsenic, concentrations of metals in
the spilled ash are well below EPA Region 4 Removal Action Levels (“RALs”). Some
concentrations of arsenic were above the residential RALs but below the
industrial RALs. The concentrations are well below levels found in
well-fertilized soils and many naturally occurring soils in
Tennessee. In addition, the levels were significantly below the
limits to be classified as a hazardous waste.
Other
groups have also sponsored other testing of sediment in the vicinity of
Kingston. In some cases, these tests have been reported in the media
as finding levels of radium and arsenic that differ significantly from those
found by TVA and independent labs. TVA is continuing monitoring
activities and is reviewing the methodology and results of these
studies.
Insurance.
TVA has property and excess liability insurance programs in place which may
cover some of the costs. The insurers for each of these programs have been
notified of the event. TVA is working with its insurers to provide information,
as it becomes available, on the event and its cause, to determine applicable
coverage. As a result, no estimate for potential insurance recovery has been
accrued at this time.
Claims
and Litigation. TVA has received claims for damages from private individuals and
companies allegedly affected by the event, and TVA expects to receive additional
claims. Several lawsuits have been filed, including class action lawsuits, and
TVA has received three notices of intent to sue. TVA’s potential costs related
to claims or lawsuits cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.
On December 30, 2008, four individual
property owners in Roane County, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit in the Roane County
Circuit Court against TVA and certain TVA officers. The complaint
alleges that TVA negligently caused the ash spill at Kingston, and that the ash
spill damaged their property. They are seeking $165 million dollars
($15 million in compensatory damages and $150 million in punitive damages) for
the damage to their property.
Three lawsuits seeking class action
status for individuals allegedly damaged by the Kingston ash pond spill have
been filed against TVA in the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville,
Tennessee:
|
•
|
The
first was filed on January 7, 2009, by a landowner in Roane County,
Tennessee, on behalf of himself and all similarly situated landowners. The
lawsuit alleges that the ash spill constitutes a private nuisance which
has interfered with the use and value of the property of the proposed
class members, and seeks compensatory damages in excess of $5
million.
|
|
•
|
The
second lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2009, by nine individual landowners
in Roane County, Tennessee, against TVA. The plaintiffs are seeking class
action status on behalf of all similarly situated persons. The
complaint alleges, among other things, negligence and inverse condemnation
and seeks compensatory damages in excess of $5
million.
|
|
•
|
The
third lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2009, by six individual landowners
in Roane County, Tennessee, and one local business. The
plaintiffs are seeking class action status on behalf of all entities
(including individuals and businesses) located within a 25-mile radius of
Kingston. The complaint alleges, among other things, gross
negligence, strict liability, nuisance per se, and violation of various
state and federal environmental statutes. The plaintiffs seek,
among other forms of relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and
an injunction requiring TVA to perform immediate medical and environmental
testing, to abate the nuisance, and to remediate the environmental
damage.
|
A coalition of environmental groups
including the Sierra Club has sent TVA a notice of intent to sue over alleged
violations of federal laws related to the Kingston ash spill. The
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has also sent TVA two notices of its intent
to sue. In addition to the lawsuits that have been filed, TVA has
received substantial claims from private individuals and companies allegedly
affected by the ash spill, and expects to receive additional
claims. TVA cannot reasonably estimate at this time the amount,
if any, for which TVA might be liable in regards to these claims.
TDEC
Order. On January 12, 2009, TDEC issued an administrative order
in connection with the Kingston ash spill. The order is based on a
finding of an emergency requiring immediate action to protect the public health,
safety, or welfare, or the health of animals, fish, or aquatic life, or a public
water supply, or recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other
reasonable uses. The order assesses no penalties, addressing just the
corrective action for the emergency situation. TDEC reserves the
right to issue further orders. Among other things, the order requires
TVA to:
|
•
|
Continue
to implement actions to prevent the movement and migration of sediment
contaminated with ash further
downstream,
|
|
•
|
Provide
support for TDEC’s comprehensive review of all TVA coal ash impoundments
located within Tennessee,
|
|
•
|
Submit
to TDEC all existing studies, reports, and memoranda that are potentially
relevant to explaining or analyzing the failure of the Kingston
containment structures,
|
|
•
|
Provide
support for TDEC’s initial assessment of the impact of the ash release on
all waters of the state, including wetlands and
groundwaters,
|
• Submit
to TDEC a Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”) that includes a plan for:
|
–
|
Remediating
impacted segments of the environment and restoration of all natural
resource damages,
|
– Monitoring
air and water,
– Providing
protection of public and private drinking water supplies,
– Managing
on a short-term and long-term basis coal ash at Kingston, and
– Addressing
any health and safety hazards,
• Implement
the CAP upon its approval by TDEC,
|
•
|
Assist
TDEC in the evaluation to determine the need for further remedial action
or monitoring beyond that already conducted under the CAP, and if
additional actions are determined by TDEC to be necessary, submit plans
for and implement the additional activities,
and
|
• Pay
all costs associated with TDEC’s investigation of the ash release.
In a
letter to TVA dated February 5, 2009, EPA and TDEC expressed their
commitment to work collaboratively in their oversight of cleanup activities
associated with the ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant. The commitment
by EPA and TDEC will help ensure that the reviews and approvals by the two
regulatory agencies will be conducted in an efficient and expeditious
manner. Also, EPA and TDEC informed TVA that they concluded that the
Kingston ash spill was in violation of the Clean Water Act ("CWA") and have
requested that TVA provide duplicate copies of all plans, reports, work
proposals and other submittals to EPA and TDEC simultaneously. EPA and TDEC, in
turn, will coordinate their reviews and approvals.
Fly Ash Control. At Kingston, fly ash
is collected in wet ash ponds. Six of the eleven fossil plants operated by TVA
use wet fly ash collection ponds. The other five plants use a dry collection
method. TVA’s ash collection sites follow the permit requirements for the states
in which they are constructed. They are surrounded by dikes and incorporate
drain systems and water runoff controls. TVA’s ash collection areas undergo
daily visual inspections, quarterly state inspections, and annual detailed
engineering inspections which include an assessment report. In
addition, TVA has retained an independent engineering firm to perform by-product
facility assessments at TVA’s eleven active and one closed fossil plants, and
the assessment work is underway. The root cause analysis firm hired
to investigate the Kingston event is sharing information with the assessment
contractor.
Currently, coal combustion by-products,
including fly ash, are not regulated as hazardous waste. Regulations could be
promulgated or legislation could be passed that would address how TVA and others
that operate coal-fired plants provide for coal ash containment. TVA is unable
to predict at this time whether any regulatory actions may be taken, or what the
outcome or impact of any such regulations could be.
2.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
General
TVA is a wholly-owned corporate agency
and instrumentality of the United States. TVA was created by the U.S.
Congress in 1933 by virtue of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933, as
amended, 16 U.S.C. §§ 831-831ee (as amended, the “TVA Act”). TVA was
created to improve navigation on the Tennessee River, reduce flood damage,
provide agricultural and industrial development, and provide electric power to
the Tennessee Valley region. TVA manages the Tennessee River and its
tributaries for multiple river-system purposes, such as navigation; flood damage
reduction; power generation; environmental stewardship; shoreline use; and water
supply for power plant operations, consumer use, recreation, and
industry.
Substantially all of TVA’s revenues and
assets are attributable to the power program. TVA provides power in
most of Tennessee, northern Alabama, northeastern Mississippi, and southwestern
Kentucky, and in portions of northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and
southwestern Virginia to a population of nearly nine million
people. The power program has historically been separate and distinct
from the stewardship programs. TVA is required to be self-supporting
from power revenues and proceeds from power financings, such as proceeds from
the issuance of bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness
(“Bonds”). Although TVA does not currently receive congressional
appropriations, it is required to make annual payments to the U.S. Treasury in
repayment of, and as a return on, the government’s appropriation investment in
TVA power facilities (the “Power Facility Appropriation
Investment”). In the 1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act, Congress directed TVA to fund essential stewardship activities related to
its management of the Tennessee River system and TVA properties with power funds
in the event that there were insufficient appropriations or other available
funds to pay for such activities in any fiscal year. Congress has not
provided any appropriations to TVA to fund such activities since
1999. Consequently, during 2000, TVA began paying for essential
stewardship activities primarily with power revenues, with the remainder funded
with user fees and other forms of revenues derived in connection with
those
activities. These activities related to stewardship properties do not
meet the criteria of an operating segment pursuant to Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 131, “Disclosures About Segments of an
Enterprise and Related Information” (“SFAS No. 131”). Accordingly,
these assets and properties are included as part of the power program, TVA’s
only operating segment.
Power
rates are established by the TVA board of directors (“TVA Board”) as authorized
by the TVA Act. The TVA Act requires TVA to charge rates for power
that will produce gross revenues sufficient to provide funds for operation,
maintenance, and administration of its power system; payments to states and
counties in lieu of taxes; debt service on outstanding indebtedness; payments to
the U.S. Treasury in repayment of and as a return on the Power Facility
Appropriation Investment; and such additional margin as the TVA Board may
consider desirable for investment in power system assets, retirement of
outstanding Bonds in advance of maturity, additional reduction of the Power
Facility Appropriation Investment, and other purposes connected with TVA’s power
business. In setting TVA’s rates, the TVA Board is charged by the TVA
Act to have due regard for the primary objectives of the TVA Act, including the
objective that power shall be sold at rates as low as are
feasible. Rates set by the TVA Board are not subject to review or
approval by any state or federal regulatory body.
Basis
of Presentation
TVA prepares its interim financial
statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial
information. Accordingly, TVA’s interim financial statements do not
include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial
statements. Because the accompanying interim financial statements do not include
all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial
statements, they should be read in conjunction with the audited financial
statements for the year ended September 30, 2008, and the notes thereto, which
are contained in TVA’s Annual Report.
Use
of Estimates
TVA prepares its financial statements
in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis. In some cases,
management may make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts
of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as
of the date of the financial statements and the related amounts of revenues and
expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ
from these estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting
of items of a normal recurring nature) considered necessary for a fair
presentation are included.
Fiscal
Year
TVA’s fiscal year ends September
30. Unless otherwise indicated, years (2009, 2008, etc.) refer to
TVA’s fiscal years.
Restricted
Cash and Investments
As of September 30, 2008, TVA had $106
million in Restricted cash and investments on its Balance Sheets primarily
related to collateral posted with TVA by a swap counterparty in accordance with
certain credit terms included in the swap agreement, which resulted in the funds
being reported in Restricted cash and investments. Due to the
changing economic environment and the terms of the swap agreement, previously
posted funds were returned to the counterparty during the quarter ended December
31, 2008. At December 31, 2008, TVA had no Restricted cash and
investments on its Balance Sheet.
Accounts
Receivable
Accounts receivable primarily consist
of amounts due from customers for power sales. The table below
summarizes the types and amounts of receivables:
Accounts
Receivable
|
||||||||
At
December 31
2008
|
At
September 30
2008
|
|||||||
Power
receivables billed
|
$ | 269 | $ | 357 | ||||
Power
receivables unbilled
|
1,099 | 1,000 | ||||||
Fuel
cost adjustment – current
|
– | 24 | ||||||
Total
power receivables
|
1,368 | 1,381 | ||||||
Other
receivables
|
27 | 26 | ||||||
Allowance
for uncollectible accounts
|
$ | (2 | ) | $ | (2 | ) | ||
Net
accounts receivable
|
$ | 1,393 | $ | 1,405 |
Inventories
Certain Fuel, Materials, and
Supplies. Coal, oil, limestone, tire-based fuel inventories,
and materials and supplies inventories are valued using an average unit cost
method. A new average cost is computed after each transaction and
inventory issuances are priced at the latest moving weighted average unit
cost. At December 31, 2008, and September 30, 2008, TVA had $438
million and $381 million, respectively, in fuel inventories and $355 million and
$347 million, respectively, in materials and supplies inventory.
Allowance for Inventory
Obsolescence. TVA reviews supply and material inventories by
category and usage on a periodic basis. Each category is assigned a
probability of becoming obsolete based on the type of material and historical
usage data. Based on the estimated value of the inventory, TVA
adjusts its allowance for inventory obsolescence. The allowance for
surplus and obsolete inventory was $48 million and $47 million at December 31,
2008 and September 30, 2008, respectively.
Emission
Allowances. TVA has emission allowances for sulfur dioxide
(“SO2”) and
nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) which
are accounted for as inventory. The average cost of allowances used
each month is charged to operating expense based on tons of SO2 and
NOx
emitted. Allowances granted to TVA by the EPA are recorded at zero
cost.
Cost-Based
Regulation
Regulatory assets capitalized under the
provisions of SFAS No. 71, “Accounting for the Effects of
Certain Types of Regulation” (“SFAS No. 71”), are included in Accounts
receivable, Deferred nuclear generating units and Other regulatory assets on the
December 31, 2008, and September 30, 2008, Balance Sheets. Components
of Other regulatory assets and Regulatory liabilities are summarized in the
table below. All regulatory assets are deemed probable of recovery in
future revenues.
TVA’s regulatory assets and liabilities
are summarized in the table below:
TVA
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities
|
||||||||
At
December 31 2008
|
At
September 30 2008
|
|||||||
Regulatory
Assets:
|
||||||||
Regulatory
Assets:
|
||||||||
Deferred
other postretirement benefits costs
|
$ | 154 | $ | 157 | ||||
Deferred
pension costs
|
2,129 | 2,120 | ||||||
Nuclear
decommissioning costs
|
975 | 764 | ||||||
Non-nuclear
decommissioning costs
|
350 | 349 | ||||||
Debt
reacquisition costs
|
204 | 209 | ||||||
Unrealized
losses relating to TVA’s financial trading program
|
259 | 146 | ||||||
Unrealized
losses on coal purchase contracts
|
59 | – | ||||||
Unrealized
losses on certain swap and swaption contracts
|
981 | 226 | ||||||
Deferred
outage costs
|
139 | 139 | ||||||
Deferred
capital lease asset costs
|
49 | 52 | ||||||
Fuel
cost adjustment receivable: long-term
|
– | 4 | ||||||
Subtotal
|
5,299 | 4,166 | ||||||
Deferred
nuclear generating units
|
2,640 | 2,738 | ||||||
Subtotal
|
7,939 | 6,904 | ||||||
Fuel
cost adjustment receivable: short-term
|
– | 24 | ||||||
Total
|
$ | 7,939 | $ | 6,928 | ||||
Regulatory
Liabilities:
|
||||||||
Unrealized
gains on coal purchase contracts
|
$ | 442 | $ | 813 | ||||
Capital
lease liabilities
|
42 | 47 | ||||||
Fuel
cost adjustment liability: long-term
|
46 | – | ||||||
Subtotal
|
530 | 860 | ||||||
Reserve
for future generation
|
69 | 70 | ||||||
Accrued
tax equivalents
|
64 | 40 | ||||||
Fuel
cost adjustment liability: short-term
|
322 | – | ||||||
Total
|
$ | 985 | $ | 970 |
The
short-term portion of the fuel cost adjustment (“FCA”) liability is included in
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities on the balance sheet at December 31,
2008.
Fuel
Cost Adjustment
The FCA
provides a mechanism to regularly alter rates to reflect changing fuel and
purchased power costs. There is typically a lag between the
occurrence of a change in fuel and purchased power costs and the reflection of
the change in rates. As of December 31, 2008, TVA had recognized a
short-term regulatory liability of $322 million and a long-term regulatory
liability of $46 million related to the FCA. These balances represent
excess revenues collected to offset fuel and purchased power
costs. The excess revenue is driven by market commodity prices being
lower than those forecasted. At September 30, 2008, TVA recognized a
regulatory asset related to the FCA, which reflected a net under-recovery of
fuel and purchased power costs.
Other
Long-Term Assets
The balances of TVA’s Other long-term
assets are as follows:
Other
Long-Term Assets
At
December 31
2008
|
At
September 30
2008
|
|||||||
Loans
and long-term receivables, net
|
$ | 81 | $ | 81 | ||||
Currency
swap assets
|
– | 101 | ||||||
Commodity
contracts with volume options assets
|
442 | 813 | ||||||
Collateral
receivable
|
455 | – | ||||||
Total
other long-term assets
|
$ | 978 | $ | 995 |
In
connection with a swaption agreement, TVA posted collateral with a custodian for
the benefit of the counterparty. As a result, TVA established a
collateral receivable on its Balance Sheet for the counterparty
funds. At December 31, 2008, the balance of this receivable was $455
million.
Other
Long-Term Liabilities
Other long-term liabilities consist
primarily of estimated amounts due for retirement and post-employment benefits
and liabilities related to the terms of certain derivative
agreements. The table below summarizes the types and amounts of
liabilities:
Other
Long-Term Liabilities
At
December 31
2008
|
At
September 30
2008
|
|||||||
Currency
swap liabilities
|
$ | 263 | $ | – | ||||
Interest
rate swap liabilities
|
446 | 195 | ||||||
Swaption
liability
|
919 | 416 | ||||||
Commodity
contracts with volume options liabilities
|
59 | – | ||||||
Post
retirement and post-employment benefits
|
2,785 | 2,736 | ||||||
Other
long-term liability obligations
|
162 | 167 | ||||||
Total
other long-term liabilities
|
$ | 4,634 | $ | 3,514 |
The
currency swaps formerly held as assets at September 30, 2008, were moved to
liabilities at December 31, 2008, due primarily to changes in exchange
rates. In addition, the liabilities related to the interest rate
swaps and swaption liabilities increased during the first quarter of 2009 due
primarily to a large decrease in interest rates.
Energy
Prepayment Obligations
Between
2002 and 2005, TVA offered an energy prepayment program, the discounted energy
units (“DEU”) program. Under this program, TVA customers could
purchase DEUs generally in $1 million increments, and each DEU entitles the
purchaser to a $0.025/kilowatt-hour discount on a specified quantity of firm
power over a period of years (five, 10, 15, or 20) for each kilowatt-hour in the
prepaid block. The remainder of the price of the kilowatt-hours
delivered to the customer is due upon billing.
TVA did not offer the DEU program after
2005. Total sales for the program since inception have been
approximately $55 million. TVA is accounting for the prepayment
proceeds as unearned revenue and is reporting the obligations to deliver power
as Energy prepayment obligations and Current portion of energy prepayment
obligations on the December 31, 2008, and September 30, 2008, Balance
Sheets.
TVA
recognizes revenue as electricity is delivered to customers, based on the ratio
of units of kilowatt-hours delivered to total units of kilowatt-hours under
contract. As of December 31, 2008, approximately $33 million had been
applied against power billings on a cumulative basis during the life of the
program. Of this amount, over $1
million was recognized as revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2008,
and 2007.
In 2004, TVA and its largest customer,
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division (“MLGW”), entered into an energy
prepayment agreement under which MLGW prepaid TVA $1.5 billion for the future
costs of electricity to be delivered by TVA to MLGW over a period of 180
months. TVA accounted for the prepayment as unearned revenue and is
reporting the obligation to deliver power under this arrangement as Energy
prepayment obligations and Current portion of energy prepayment obligations on
the December 31, 2008, and September 30, 2008, Balance Sheets. TVA
expects to recognize approximately $100 million of non-cash revenue in each year
of the arrangement as electricity is delivered to MLGW based on the ratio of
units of kilowatt-hours delivered to total units of kilowatt-hours under
contract. As of December 31, 2008, $515 million had been recognized
as non-cash revenue on a cumulative basis during the life of the
agreement. Of this amount, $25 million was recognized as revenue for
the three months ended December 31, 2008, and 2007.
Asset
Retirement Obligations
During the first quarter of 2009, TVA’s
total asset retirement obligation (“ARO”) liability increased $32 million due to
accretion. The nuclear accretion expense of $24 million was deferred
and charged to a regulatory asset in accordance with SFAS No. 71. The
remaining accretion expense of $8 million related to coal-fired and gas/oil
combustion turbine plants, asbestos, and polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) was
expensed during the first quarter of 2009. During the first quarter
of 2008, TVA’s total ARO liability increased $30 million due to
accretion. The nuclear accretion expense of $23 million was deferred
and charged to a regulatory asset in accordance with SFAS No. 71. The
remaining accretion expense of $7 million, related to coal-fired and gas/oil
combustion turbine plants, asbestos, and PCBs, was expensed during the first
quarter of 2008. See discussions of the change in accounting for
non-nuclear decommissioning cost in the paragraph following the table
below.
Reconciliation
of Asset Retirement Obligation Liability
Three
Months Ended
December
31
|
||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Balance
at beginning of period
|
$ | 2,318 | $ | 2,189 | ||||
Nuclear
accretion (recorded as a regulatory asset)
|
24 | 23 | ||||||
Non-nuclear
accretion
|
8 | 7 | ||||||
32 | 30 | |||||||
Balance
at end of period
|
$ | 2,350 | $ | 2,219 |
Non-Nuclear
Decommissioning Costs
In August 2008, the TVA Board approved
deferring costs related to the future closure and retirement of TVA's
non-nuclear long-lived assets under various legal requirements as recognized by
SFAS No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement
Obligations“ (“SFAS No. 143”) and Financial Accounting Standards Board
(“FASB”) Interpretation (“FIN”) No. 47, “Accounting for Conditional Asset Retirement
Obligations, an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 143” (“FIN No.
47”). These costs had previously been included in rates as the ARO
was accreted and the asset was depreciated. In accordance with Emerging Issues
Task Force (“EITF”) No. 93-4, “Accounting for Regulatory
Assets” (“EITF No. 93-4”), these costs did not previously meet the asset
recognition criteria in paragraph nine of SFAS No. 71 at the date the costs were
incurred. Because of the establishment of the asset retirement trust (“ART”) and
the approval of the funding of the costs for the ART in 2009 rates as part of
the TVA Board’s budget and ratemaking process, these costs currently meet asset
recognition criteria. Therefore, all cumulative costs incurred since 2003, when
SFAS No. 143 was adopted, were recaptured as a regulatory asset as of September
30, 2008. As amounts approximately equal to the accretion were
collected in rates during the first quarter of 2009, the non-nuclear accretion
was expensed during the quarter.
Other
(Expense) Income, Net
Other (expense) income, net is
comprised of the following:
Other
(Expense) Income, Net
Three
Months Ended December 31
|
||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Interest
income
|
$ | 3 | $ | 3 | ||||
Losses
on investments
|
(13 | ) | (10 | ) | ||||
Claims
settlement
|
– | 8 | ||||||
Miscellaneous
|
1 | 2 | ||||||
Total
other (expense) income, net
|
$ | (9 | ) | $ | 3 |
Impact
of New Accounting Standards and Interpretations
The following accounting standards
and interpretations became effective for TVA during 2009.
Fair Value
Measurements. In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157,
“Fair Value Measurements
(“SFAS No. 157”). SFAS No. 157 provides guidance for
using fair value to measure assets and liabilities that currently require fair
value measurement. SFAS No. 157 also responds to investors’ requests
for expanded information about the extent to which companies measure assets and
liabilities at fair value, the information used to measure fair value, and the
effect of fair value measurements on earnings. SFAS No. 157 applies
whenever other standards require (or permit) assets or liabilities to be
measured at fair value but does not expand the use of fair value in any new
circumstances. SFAS No. 157 establishes a fair value hierarchy that
prioritizes the information used to develop measurement
assumptions. SFAS No. 157 became effective for TVA on October 1,
2008. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $64 million decrease
in the fair value of assets and a $24 million decrease in the fair value of
liabilities. All such decreases were reflected as changes in
regulatory assets, regulatory liabilities, and accumulated other comprehensive
income.
In February 2008, FASB issued FASB
Staff Position (“FSP”) FAS No. 157-2, "Effective Date of FASB Statement
No. 157” (“FSP FAS No. 157-2”), which delays the effective date of SFAS
No. 157 for
nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities except for items that are
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring
basis. This FSP delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 to fiscal
years beginning after November 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal
years for items within the scope of this FSP. TVA has utilized the
deferral portion of FSP FAS No. 157-2 for all nonfinancial assets and
liabilities within its scope and is currently evaluating the future related
impact.
In October 2008, FASB issued FSP FAS
No.157-3, “Determining the
Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset Is Not
Active” ("FSP FAS No.157-3"). FSP FAS No.157-3 clarifies the
application of SFAS No. 157 in a market that is not active. The
guidance emphasizes that determining fair value in an inactive market depends on
the facts and circumstances and may require the use of significant
judgment. FSP FAS No. 157-3 was effective upon issuance, including
prior periods for which financial statements have not been issued, and became
effective for TVA upon its implementation of SFAS No. 157 on October 1,
2008. The adoption of FSP FAS No. 157-3 did not materially impact
TVA’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Fair Value Option.
In February 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial
Assets and Financial Liabilities — Including an amendment of FASB Statement No.
115” (“SFAS No. 159”).
This statement permits an entity to choose to measure many financial
instruments and certain other items at fair value. The fair value
option established by SFAS No.159 permits all entities to choose to measure
eligible items at fair value at specified election dates. A business
entity will report unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value
option has been elected in earnings at each subsequent reporting
date. Most of the provisions in SFAS No. 159 are elective. The
provisions of SFAS No. 159 are effective as of the beginning of an entity’s
first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. SFAS No. 159
became effective for TVA on October 1, 2008. As allowed by the
standard, TVA did not elect the fair value option for the measurement of any
eligible assets or liabilities. The adoption of SFAS No. 159 did not materially
impact TVA’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash
flows.
Offsetting
Amounts. On April 30, 2007, FASB issued FSP FIN No. 39-1, “Amendment of FASB Interpretation
No. 39,” which addresses certain modifications to FIN No. 39, “Offsetting of Amounts Related to
Certain Contracts.” This FSP replaces the terms “conditional contracts”
and “exchange contracts” with the term “derivative instruments” as defined in
SFAS No. 133. The FSP also
permits a reporting entity to offset fair value amounts recognized for the right
to reclaim cash collateral (a receivable) or the obligation to return cash
collateral (a payable) against fair value amounts recognized for derivative
instruments executed with the same counterparty under the same master netting
arrangement. The guidance in this FSP became effective for TVA as of
October 1, 2008. The adoption of this FSP did not materially impact
TVA’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Disclosures by Public
Entities (Enterprises) about Transfers of Financial Assets and Interests in
Variable Interests Entities. In December 2008, FASB issued FSP
FAS No. 140-4 and FIN No. 46(R)-8, “Disclosures by Public Entities
(Enterprises) about Transfers of Financial Assets and Interests in Variable
Interests Entities.” This FSP requires public entities to provide
additional disclosures about transfers of financial assets. It also
amends FASB Interpretation No. 46 (revised December 2003), “Consolidation of Variable Interest
Entities,” to require public enterprises, including sponsors that have a
variable interest in a variable interest entity, to provide additional
disclosures about their involvement with variable interest
entities. Additionally, this FSP requires certain disclosures to be
provided by a public enterprise that is (1) the sponsor of a qualifying special
purpose entity (“SPE”) that holds a variable interest in the qualifying SPE but
was not the transferor (“nontransferor”) of financial assets to the qualifying
SPE and (2) a servicer of a qualifying SPE that holds a significant variable
interest in the qualifying SPE but was not the transferor (nontransferor) of
financial assets to the qualifying SPE. The disclosures required by
this FSP are intended to provide greater transparency to financial statement
users about a transferor’s continuing involvement with transferred financial
assets and an enterprise’s involvement with variable interest entities and
qualifying SPEs. This FSP is effective for the first reporting period
(interim or annual) ending after December 15, 2008, with earlier application
encouraged. TVA adopted the disclosure provisions of this FSP during
the first quarter of 2009.
Employers’ Disclosures about
Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets. On December 30, 2008,
FASB issued FSP No.132(R)-1, “Employers’ Disclosures about
Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets,” to require that an employer disclose
the following information about the plan assets: 1) information regarding how
investment allocation decisions are made; 2) the major categories of plan
assets; 3) information about the inputs and valuation techniques used to measure
fair value of the plan assets; 4) the effect of fair value measurements using
significant unobservable inputs on changes in plan assets for the period; and 5)
significant concentrations of risk within plan assets. This FSP also
includes a technical amendment to require the disclosure of net periodic benefit
cost recognized. This technical amendment was effective upon issuance
and TVA adopted this portion of this FSP during the first quarter of
2009. The remaining portions of this FSP will be effective for fiscal
years ending after December 15, 2009, with early application permitted. At
initial adoption, application of the remaining portions of this FSP would not be
required for earlier periods that are presented for comparative
purposes. TVA is currently evaluating the potential impact of
adopting the remaining portions of this FSP on its disclosures in the financial
statements.
The following accounting standards have
been issued, but as of December, 31, 2008, are not yet effective and have not
been adopted by TVA.
Business
Combinations. In December 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 141R,
“Business Combinations”
(“SFAS No. 141R”). This statement establishes principles and
requirements for determining how an enterprise recognizes and measures the fair
value of certain assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination,
including non-controlling interests, contingent consideration, and certain
acquired contingencies. SFAS No. 141R also requires
acquisition-related transaction expenses and restructuring costs to be expensed
as incurred rather than capitalized as a component of the business
combination. The provisions of SFAS No. 141R are effective as of the
beginning of an entity’s first fiscal year that begins on or after December 15,
2008. Early adoption is prohibited. SFAS No. 141R will
become effective for TVA as of October 1, 2009. TVA expects that SFAS
No. 141R could have an impact on accounting for any businesses acquired after
the effective date of this pronouncement.
Derivative Instruments and
Hedging Activities. In March 2008, FASB issued SFAS No. 161,
“Disclosures about Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities — an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133”
(“SFAS No. 161”), which establishes, among other things, the disclosure
requirements for derivative instruments and hedging activities. SFAS
No. 161 amends and expands the disclosure requirements of SFAS No. 133. The effective
date of adoption for TVA is the second quarter of 2009. TVA is
currently evaluating the potential impact of adopting SFAS No. 161 on its
disclosures in the financial statements.
Hierarchy of Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles. In May 2008, FASB issued SFAS
No. 162, “The Hierarchy of
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (“SFAS No.
162”). SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles
and the framework for selecting the principles used in the preparation of
financial statements. SFAS No. 162 is effective 60 days following the
SEC’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendments to AU
Section 411, “The Meaning of
Present Fairly in Conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.” The implementation of SFAS No. 162 is not
expected to have a material impact on TVA’s financial position and results of
operations.
3.
Fair Value Measurements
Effective October 1, 2008, TVA adopted
SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value
Measurements,” for all financial instruments and non-financial
instruments accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis. SFAS No. 157
establishes a new framework for measuring fair value and expands related
disclosures. Broadly, the SFAS No. 157 framework requires fair value
to be determined based on the exchange price that would be received for an asset
or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in TVA’s principal market, or in
the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the asset or
liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. SFAS No. 157
establishes market or observable inputs as the preferred source of values,
followed by assumptions based on hypothetical transactions in the absence of
market inputs.
Valuation
Techniques
SFAS No. 157 describes three
main approaches to measuring the fair value of assets and liabilities:
1) market approach; 2) income approach; and 3) cost approach. The
market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated from market
transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities. The income
approach uses valuation techniques to convert future amounts to a single present
value amount. The measurement is based on the value indicated by current market
expectations about those future amounts of income. The cost approach is based on
the amount that would currently be required to replace an asset. TVA
utilizes the market approach and the income approach in its fair value
measurements.
The valuation techniques required by
SFAS No. 157 are based upon observable and unobservable inputs. Observable
inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable
inputs reflect TVA’s market assumptions. These two types of inputs create the
following fair value hierarchy:
|
Level 1 –
|
Unadjusted
quoted prices in active markets accessible by the reporting entity for
identical assets or liabilities. Active markets are those in which
transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency
and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing
basis.
|
|
Level 2 –
|
Pricing
inputs other than quoted market prices included in Level 1 that are
based on observable market data and that are directly or indirectly
observable for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.
These include quoted market prices for similar assets or liabilities,
quoted market prices for identical or similar assets in markets that are
not active, adjusted quoted market prices, inputs from observable data
such as interest rate and yield curves, volatilities and default rates
observable at commonly quoted intervals, and inputs derived from
observable market data by correlation or other
means.
|
|
Level 3 –
|
Pricing
inputs that are unobservable, or less observable, from objective sources.
Unobservable inputs should only be used to the extent observable inputs
are not available. These inputs maintain the concept of an exit price from
the perspective of a market participant and should reflect assumptions of
other market participants. An entity should consider all market
participant assumptions that are available without unreasonable cost and
effort. These are given the lowest priority and are generally used in
internally developed methodologies to generate management's best estimate
of the fair value when no observable market data is
available.
|
A financial instrument's level within
the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input significant to
the fair value measurement, where Level 1 is the highest and Level 3
is the lowest.
Nonperformance
Risk
The impact of nonperformance risk,
which includes credit risk, considers changes in current market conditions,
readily available information on nonperformance risk, letters of credit,
collateral, other arrangements available, and the nature of master netting
arrangements. TVA is a counterparty to currency swaps, interest rate swaps, a
swaption, commodity contracts, and other derivatives which subject TVA to
nonperformance risk. Nonperformance risk on the majority of investments and
certain exchange traded instruments held by TVA is incorporated into the exit
price that is derived from quoted market data that is used to mark the
investment to market.
Nonperformance risk for most of TVA’s
derivative instruments is an adjustment to the initial asset/liability fair
value. TVA adjusts for nonperformance risk by deducting a credit
valuation adjustment ("CVA") that calculates counterparty risk. For
derivatives of a relatively short-term nature (generally less than five years),
the CVA is calculated using composite spreads over U.S. Treasury yields for
either identical companies or companies with a similar bond rating as obtained
from widely-used pricing services (e.g., Standard and Poor’s (“S&P”),
Bloomberg). For companies that do not have an observable bond rating,
TVA uses internal analysis to assign a comparable rating to the
company. For TVA’s currency swaps, interest rate swaps, and swaption,
the remaining terms of the instruments range from 12 to 35 years. The
CVA for these liabilities is calculated based on the historical default rate for
companies with TVA’s senior unsecured long-term bond ratings over the remaining
term as obtained by widely used ratings services (e.g., S&P, Moody’s
Investors Service).
The following sections describe the
valuation methodologies TVA uses to measure different financial instruments at
fair value.
Nuclear
Decommissioning Trust
TVA maintains a nuclear decommissioning
trust (“NDT”) to provide funding for the ultimate decommissioning of its nuclear
power plants. The fund is invested in securities generally designed
to achieve a return in line with broad equity market performance. The
trust is comprised of U.S. equities, international equities, real estate
investment trusts (“REITs”), fixed-income investments, high-yield fixed-income
investments, U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities, commodities,
currencies, derivative instruments, and other investments. Most U.S.
and international equities, Treasury inflation-protected securities, REITs, and
certain derivative instruments are exchanged traded and are classified as Level
1 valuations. Fixed-income investments, high-yield fixed-income
investments, currencies, and most derivative instruments are classified as Level
2 valuations. These measurements are based on market and income
approaches. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a decrease of $4
million in the fair value of NDT assets due to the application of
CVAs.
Other
Investments
Asset
Retirement Trust. TVA maintains an
ART to more effectively segregate, manage, and invest funds to help meet future
asset retirement obligations. The purpose of the trust is to hold
funds for the contemplated future retirement of TVA’s long-lived assets and to
comply with any order relating to the retirement of long-lived
assets. The asset retirement trust is presently invested to achieve a
return in line with fixed income market performance. The assets of the trust are
invested in fixed income securities and certain derivatives directly and
indirectly through commingled funds. Among those investments are U.S. Treasury
securities and certain derivatives classified as Level 1 valuations, and other
fixed-income securities and derivatives classified as Level 2
valuations. These measurements are based on market and income
approaches. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 did not materially impact
the fair value of ART assets.
Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan. TVA established a
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) for certain executives in
critical positions to provide supplemental pension benefits tied to compensation
that is not creditable under the qualified pension plan. TVA has
historically funded the annual calculated expense. The SERP is presently
invested to achieve a return in line with broad equity market performance. The
assets of the SERP are invested in fixed-income securities and certain
derivative instruments indirectly through commingled funds. Among
those investments are certain equity derivatives classified as Level 1
valuations, and other fixed-income securities and derivatives classified as
Level 2 valuations. These measurements are based on market and
income approaches. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 did not
materially impact the fair value of SERP assets.
Commodity
Contracts with Volume Options
TVA is a party in various forward
contracts to purchase coal which hedge against the future variability in
price. These contracts typically include provisions that permit the
amount of coal purchased under the contract to be increased or decreased to
hedge against fluctuations in demand. These contracts qualify as
derivatives under SFAS No. 133. These contracts
are classified as Level 3 valuations and are valued based on income
approaches. TVA develops an overall coal price forecast using
widely-used short-term market data from brokers, long-term price forecasts
developed with the assistance of a third-party valuation service, and other
internal estimates. To value the option component of the contract,
TVA uses a Black-Scholes pricing model which includes inputs from the overall
coal price forecast, contract-specific terms, and other market
inputs. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $60 million
decrease in the fair value of commodity contracts in an asset position and a $1
million decrease in the fair value of commodity contracts in a liability
position due to the application of CVAs to these contracts.
Futures,
Commodity Swaps, and Options on Futures
TVA invests in various futures
contracts and options on futures contracts to hedge against the future
variability in commodity prices. At December 31, 2008, these
commodities included natural gas and fuel oil. These contracts are
valued based on market approaches which utilize New York Mercantile Exchange
(“NYMEX”) quoted prices. Contracts settled on the NYMEX (e.g.,
futures, options) are classified as Level 1 valuations. Contracts
where nonperformance risk exists outside of the exit price (e.g., swaps,
over-the-counter options) are measured with the incorporation
of CVAs and are classified as Level 2 valuations. The adoption of
SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $2 million decrease in the fair value of these
liabilities due to the application of CVAs.
Currency
Swaps, Interest Rate Swaps, and Swaption
Currency
Swaps. TVA
has three cross-currency swaps with a total notional amount of 600 million
Sterling, which hedge the payments for the three Bonds TVA issued which are
denominated in Sterling. These swaps are designated as cash flow
hedges in accordance with SFAS No. 133. As a result,
gains/losses on the swaps are recorded in Other comprehensive loss and
reclassified to earnings to the extent they are offset by gains/losses on the
foreign currency denominated payments designated as the hedged item. These swaps
are classified as Level 2 valuations and are valued based on income
approaches. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $4 million
decrease in the fair value of these liabilities due to the application of
CVAs.
Interest
Rate Swaps. TVA has three “fixed
for floating” interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $518 million,
which were the result of a counterparty exercising the options in various
swaptions that TVA sold to that counterparty. These swaps are
classified as Level 2 valuations and are valued based on income
approaches. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in an $8 million
decrease in the fair value of these liabilities due to the application of
CVAs.
Swaption. TVA has one swaption
with a notional amount of $1 billion, which was the result of TVA selling a
swaption to monetize the call provision on one of its Bonds. The
swaption is classified as a Level 3 valuation and is valued based on an income
approach. The valuation is computed using a broker-provided lattice
pricing model utilizing LIBOR rates and volatility rates. Volatility
for TVA’s American swaption is generally unobservable. Therefore, the
valuation is derived from an observable European swaption matrix with
adjustments. This arrangement requires that TVA post collateral for
any liability position in excess of $500 million. As of December 31,
2008, TVA was required to post collateral totaling $455 million with a
custodian under this arrangement for the benefit of the counterparty. The
adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $9 million decrease in the fair value of
this liability due to the application of a CVA.
The following table sets forth by level
within the fair value hierarchy TVA's financial assets and liabilities that were
measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2008, in
accordance with SFAS No. 157. Financial assets and liabilities have been
classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is
significant to the fair value measurement. TVA's assessment of the significance
of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment and may
affect the determination of the fair value of the assets and liabilities and
their classification in the fair value hierarchy levels.
Fair
Value Measurements as of Reporting Date
Assets
|
Fair
Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
|
|||||||||||||||
Quoted
Prices in
Active
Markets for
Identical
Assets
(Level
1)
|
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level
2)
|
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level
3)
|
||||||||||||||
Description
|
December
31 2008
|
|||||||||||||||
Nuclear
decommissioning trust
|
$ | 661 | $ | 127 | $ | 534 | $ | – | ||||||||
Other
investments
|
99 | 1 | 98 | – | ||||||||||||
Commodity
contracts with volume options
|
442 | – | – | 442 | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Liabilities
|
Fair
Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using
|
|||||||||||||||
Quoted
Prices in
Active
Markets for
Identical
Liabilities
(Level
1)
|
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level
2)
|
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level
3)
|
||||||||||||||
Description
|
December
31 2008
|
|||||||||||||||
Interest
rate swaps
|
$ | 446 | $ | – | $ | 446 | $ | – | ||||||||
Currency
swaps
|
263 | – | 263 | – | ||||||||||||
Swaption
|
919 | – | – | 919 | ||||||||||||
Futures
and options on futures
|
232 | 54 | 178 | – | ||||||||||||
Commodity
contracts with volume options
|
59 | – | – | 59 |
The following table presents a
reconciliation of all assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a
recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) for the
three months ended December 31, 2008:
Fair
Value Measurements Using Significant Unobservable Inputs
For
the three months ending
|
||||||||
December
31, 2008
|
||||||||
Commodity
Contracts
with
Volume Options
|
Swaption
|
|||||||
Balances
at beginning of period
|
$ | 813 | $ | (416 | ) | |||
Total
gains or losses (realized or unrealized) deferred as a regulatory asset or
liability
|
(389 | ) | (503 | ) | ||||
Purchases,
issuances, and settlements
|
(41 | ) | – | |||||
Balances
at end of period
|
$ | 383 | $ | (919 | ) | |||
There were no realized gains or losses
to the instruments measured at fair value using significant unobservable
inputs. All unrealized gains and losses related to these instruments
have been reflected as increases in regulatory assets and decreases in
regulatory liabilities. See Note 2 — Cost-Based
Regulation.
4. Accumulated
Other Comprehensive Loss
SFAS No. 130, “Reporting Comprehensive
Income,” requires the disclosure of other comprehensive income or
loss to reflect changes in capital that result from transactions and
economic events from non-owner sources. The increase in Other
comprehensive loss for the three months ended December 31, 2008, and for the
three months ended December 31, 2007, was due to unrealized losses related to
mark-to-market valuation adjustments for certain derivative
instruments.
Total
Other Comprehensive Loss Activity
|
||||||||
Three
Months Ended
December
31
|
||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss at beginning of period
|
$ | (37 | ) | $ | (19 | ) | ||
Changes
in fair value:
|
||||||||
Foreign
currency swaps
|
(173 | ) | (4 | ) | ||||
Accumulated
other comprehensive loss at end of period
|
$ | (210 | ) | $ | (23 | ) | ||
Note:
Foreign
currency swap changes are shown net of reclassifications from Other
comprehensive loss to earnings. The amounts reclassified from Other
comprehensive loss resulted in a charge to earnings of $191 million for
the first quarter of 2009 and a charge to earnings of $35 million for the
first quarter of 2008.
|
5.
Debt Securities
Debt
Outstanding
The TVA Act authorizes TVA to issue
Bonds in an amount not to exceed $30 billion at any time. Debt outstanding at
December 31, 2008, and September 30, 2008, including translation losses of $53
million and $138 million, respectively, related to long-term debt denominated in
foreign currencies, consisted of the following:
Debt
Outstanding
|
||||||||
At
December 31
2008
|
At
September 30
2008
|
|||||||
Short-term
debt
|
||||||||
Discount
notes (net of discount)
|
$ | 2,393 | $ | 185 | ||||
Current
maturities of long-term debt
|
679 | 2,030 | ||||||
Total
short-term debt, net
|
3,072 | 2,215 | ||||||
Long-term
debt
|
||||||||
Long-term
|
19,802 | 20,603 | ||||||
Unamortized
discount
|
(199 | ) | (199 | ) | ||||
Total
long-term debt, net
|
19,603 | 20,404 | ||||||
Total
outstanding debt
|
$ | 22,675 | $ | 22,619 |
Debt
Securities Activity
The table below summarizes TVA’s
long-term Bond activity for the period from October 1, 2008, to December 31,
2008.
Long-Term
Bond and Note Activity
|
|||||||||
Date
|
Amount
|
Interest
Rate
|
|||||||
Redemptions/Maturities:
|
|||||||||
1998
Series G
|
First
Quarter 2009
|
$ | 2,000 | 5.38 | % | ||||
Issuances:
|
|||||||||
electronotes®
|
First
Quarter 2009
|
$ | 39 | 5.04 | % | ||||
Note:
electronotes®
interest rate is a weighted average rate.
|
6.
Variable Interest Entities
In
February 1997, TVA entered into a purchase power agreement with Choctaw
Generation, Inc. (“Choctaw”) (subsequently assigned to Choctaw Generation
Limited Partnership) to purchase all the power generated from its facility
located in Choctaw County, Mississippi. The facility had a committed
capacity of 440 megawatts and the term of the agreement was 30
years. Under the accounting guidance provided by FIN No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest
Entities,” as amended by FIN No. 46R (as amended, “FIN No. 46R”), TVA
believes its contractual interest is a variable interest that changes with
changes in the fair value of the net assets of Choctaw because the purchase
power agreement provides substantially all of Choctaw’s operating cash
flow. TVA believes that Choctaw qualifies as a variable interest
entity because the entity is designed (or redesigned) so that substantially all
of its activities either involve or are conducted on behalf of
TVA. Furthermore, Choctaw lacks the obligation to absorb its expected
losses because of the effective guaranteed return provided by TVA through the
30-year purchase power agreement. TVA may be deemed to be the primary
beneficiary under the contract; however, TVA does not have access to the
financial records of Choctaw. As a result, TVA was unable to
determine whether FIN No. 46R would require TVA to consolidate Choctaw’s balance
sheet, results of operations, and cash flows for the quarter ended December 31,
2008. Because of the lack of financial information, TVA is unable to
obtain complete information regarding debt, equity, and other contractual
interests in Choctaw. As of December 31, 2008, Choctaw had issued
senior secured bonds of $236 million and $95 million due in June 2030 and June
2023, respectively. Choctaw’s credit ratings as issued by Standard
and Poor’s and Moody’s were BB with a negative outlook and Ba2,
respectively. TVA has no direct debt or equity investment in
Choctaw. The purchase power agreement is accounted for based on the
normal purchases and normal sales exemption of SFAS No. 133; therefore, no
amounts are recorded in TVA’s financial statements with respect to TVA’s
variable interest. Power purchases for the quarter under the
agreement amounted to $18 million, and the remaining financial commitment under
this agreement is $6.7 billion. TVA has no additional financial
commitments beyond the purchase power agreement with respect to the
facility.
The terms
of the purchase power agreement specify that Choctaw must reimburse TVA for any
additional costs incurred due to Choctaw’s failure to deliver power as specified
under the contract. TVA is the beneficiary of a third-party credit
enhancement in the form of a $5 million letter of credit with a financial
institution. Under the terms of the letter of credit, TVA may draw
any amount necessary up to $5 million to reimburse any incremental costs
incurred due to Choctaw’s failure to perform under the
contract. Also, Choctaw must replenish the letter of credit in full
within 20 days or TVA is relieved of its obligations under the purchase power
agreement. Because of the terms of the letter of credit arrangement
and TVA’s experience with Choctaw, TVA does not believe that any material
exposure to loss existed as of December 31, 2008. TVA also believes
that in addition to the explicit variable interest in Choctaw through the
purchase power agreement, TVA may have an implicit variable interest in Choctaw
due to the purchase power agreement being viewed as a credit enhancement to
secured creditors and bondholders. TVA does not believe that it has
any additional exposure with respect to this potential implicit variable
interest. Also, because the purchase power agreement grants TVA the
right, but not the obligation, to purchase power, TVA does not believe that its
maximum exposure to loss in the arrangement can be quantified due to the
uncertainty of future power demand.
7.
Risk Management Activities and Derivative Transactions
TVA is exposed to various market
risks. These market risks include risks related to commodity prices,
investment prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation, and
counterparty credit risk. To help manage certain of these risks, TVA
has entered into various derivative transactions, including forward contracts,
swaps, swaptions, futures, and options on futures. It is TVA’s policy
to enter into derivative transactions solely for hedging purposes and not for
speculative purposes.
TVA has recorded the following amounts
for its derivative financial instruments:
Mark-to-Market
Values of Derivative Instruments
At
December 31
2008
|
At
September 30
2008
|
|||||||
Currency
swaps
|
||||||||
Sterling
₤200 million notional
|
$ | (91 | ) | $ | 2 | |||
Sterling
₤250 million notional
|
(88 | ) | 72 | |||||
Sterling
₤150 million notional
|
(84 | ) | 27 | |||||
Swaption
- $1 billion notional
|
(919 | ) | (416 | ) | ||||
Interest
rate swaps
|
||||||||
$476
million notional
|
(430 | ) | (188 | ) | ||||
$28
million notional
|
(11 | ) | (5 | ) | ||||
$14
million notional
|
(5 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||
Coal
contracts with volume options
|
383 | 813 | ||||||
Futures
and options on futures
|
||||||||
Margin
Cash Account*
|
24 | 25 | ||||||
Unrealized
losses
|
(259 | ) | (146 | ) | ||||
Note
* In
accordance with certain credit terms, TVA used leveraging to trade
financial instruments under the financial trading program. Therefore,
the margin cash account balance does not represent 100 percent of the net
market value of the derivative positions outstanding as shown in the
Financial Trading Activity table below.
|
See Note 3 for discussion of
currency swaps, swaption and interest rate swaps.
Commodity
Contracts
TVA enters into forward contracts that
hedge cash flow exposures to market fluctuations in the price and delivery of
certain commodities such as coal, natural gas, fuel oil, and
electricity. TVA expects to take or make delivery, as appropriate,
under these forward contracts. Accordingly, most of these contracts
qualify for normal purchases and normal sales accounting under SFAS No.
133. As of December 31, 2008, TVA did not have derivative contracts
related to the purchase of electricity.
Coal
Contracts with Volume Options
TVA enters into certain coal supply
contracts that require delivery of a contractual quantity of coal (base tons) at
contract prices. Certain coal contracts also contain options that
permit TVA to either increase or reduce the amounts of coal delivered within
contract guidelines. Essentially, the option to take more or less coal
represents a purchased option that is combined with the forward coal contract in
a single supply contract. TVA marks to market the value of these
contracts on a quarterly basis in accordance with SFAS No. 133. The
market value adjustment for these contracts is deferred as a regulatory
liability. TVA defers all unrealized gains or losses and records only
realized gains or losses as fossil fuel expense at the time the commodity is
consumed. At December 31, 2008, these contracts constitute 16 percent
of all coal contracts, excluding spot contracts.
Coal
Contracts with Volume Options
At
December 31, 2008
|
At
September 30, 2008
|
|||||||||||||||||
Number
of Contracts
|
Notional
Amount
(in
Tons)
|
Total
Contract Value
(in
millions)
|
Number
of Contracts
|
Notional
Amount
(in
Tons)
|
Total
Contract Value
(in
millions)
|
|||||||||||||
Coal
Contracts with Volume Options
|
9 |
35
million
|
$ | 383 | 10 |
37
million
|
$ | 813 |
Futures
and Options on Futures
TVA can purchase swaps, options on
swaps, futures, and options on futures to hedge TVA’s exposure to natural gas
and fuel oil prices. However, it is prohibited from trading financial
instruments for speculative purposes.
At December 31, 2008, TVA had notional
volumes of natural gas hedges (in mmBtu) equivalent to 90,195,000. The volumes
by instrument type are detailed in the table below. At December 31, 2008, the
market value of these hedges was a loss of $257 million. For the
three months ended December 31, 2008, TVA recognized realized losses of $69
million, which were recorded as an increase to purchased power
expense. The unrealized loss of $257 million was deferred as a
regulatory asset. TVA defers these unrealized gains or losses and records only
realized gains or losses at the time the commodity is consumed.
At December 31, 2008, TVA had notional
volumes of heating oil hedges equivalent to 81,000 (in barrels). This volume is
currently held in futures contracts. At December 31, 2008, the market value of
these hedges was a loss of $2 million. For the three months ended
December 31, 2008, TVA recognized realized losses of less than $1 million, which
were recorded as an increase to fossil fuel expense. The unrealized loss of $2
million was deferred as a regulatory asset. TVA defers these unrealized gains or
losses and records only realized gains or losses as fossil fuel costs at the
time the commodity is consumed.
At September 30, 2008, TVA had notional
volumes of natural gas hedges equivalent to 89,810,000 (in
mmBtu). The volumes by instrument type are detailed in the table
below. The market value of these hedges was a loss of $146 million at
September 30, 2008. For the year ended September 30, 2008, TVA
recognized realized gains of $11 million, which were recorded as a decrease to
purchased power expense. The unrealized loss of $146 million at
September 30, 2008, was deferred as a regulatory asset. TVA defers all financial
trading program unrealized gains or losses and records only realized gains or
losses at the time the commodity is consumed. TVA did not have fuel
oil hedges as of September 30, 2008.
Financial
Trading Activity
At
December 31, 2008
|
At
September 30, 2008
|
|||||||||||||||
Total
Notional
Amount
|
Market
Value
(MtM)
|
Total
Notional
Amount
|
Market
Value
(MtM)
|
|||||||||||||
Natural Gas (in
mmBtu)
|
||||||||||||||||
Futures
contracts
|
||||||||||||||||
Net
position at beginning of period
|
20,900,000 | 16,230,000 | ||||||||||||||
Fixed
positions
|
– | $ | (8 | ) | – | $ | – | |||||||||
Open
positions at end of period
|
28,260,000 | (46 | ) | 20,900,000 | (12 | ) | ||||||||||
Net
position at end of period
|
28,260,000 | (54 | ) | 20,900,000 | (12 | ) | ||||||||||
Swaps
contracts
|
||||||||||||||||
Net
position at beginning of period
|
70,510,000 | 1,970,000 | ||||||||||||||
Fixed
positions
|
– | (19 | ) | – | – | |||||||||||
Open
positions at end of period
|
59,735,000 | (178 | ) | 70,510,000 | (126 | ) | ||||||||||
Net
position at end of period
|
59,735,000 | (197 | ) | 70,510,000 | (126 | ) | ||||||||||
Options
contracts
|
||||||||||||||||
Net
position at beginning of period
|
(1,600,000 | ) | 5,600,000 | |||||||||||||
Net
position at end of period
|
2,200,000 | (6 | ) | (1,600,000 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||||||
Financial
positions at end of period, net
|
90,195,000 | $ | (257 | ) | 89,810,000 | $ | (146 | ) | ||||||||
Fuel Oil (in
barrels)
|
||||||||||||||||
Futures
contracts
|
||||||||||||||||
Net
position at beginning of period
|
– | $ | – | – | $ | – | ||||||||||
Net
position at end of period
|
81,000 | (2 | ) | – | – | |||||||||||
Financial
positions at end of period, net
|
81,000 | $ | (2 | ) | – | $ | – | |||||||||
8.
Benefit Plans
TVA sponsors a qualified defined
benefit pension plan that covers most of its full-time employees, a qualified
defined contribution plan that covers most of its full-time employees, an
unfunded postretirement health care plan that provides for non-vested
contributions toward the cost of certain retirees’ medical coverage, and a
SERP.
The following table provides the
components of net periodic benefit cost for the plans for the quarters ended
December 31, 2008, and 2007.
TVA
Benefit Plans
Pension
Benefits
|
Other
Benefits
|
|||||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||||||||
Components
of net periodic benefit cost
|
||||||||||||||||
Service
cost
|
$ | 22 | $ | 28 | $ | 2 | $ | 1 | ||||||||
Interest
cost
|
146 | 131 | 9 | 7 | ||||||||||||
Expected
return on plan assets
|
(136 | ) | (152 | ) | – | – | ||||||||||
Amortization
of prior service cost
|
9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
Recognized
net actuarial loss
|
4 | 10 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||
Net
periodic benefit cost as actuarially determined
|
45 | 26 | 14 | 11 | ||||||||||||
Amount
capitalized due to actions of regulator
|
(21 | ) | – | – | – | |||||||||||
Net
periodic benefit cost recognized
|
$ | 24 | $ | 26 | $ | 14 | $ | 11 |
During the three months ended December
31, 2008, TVA did not make contributions to its pension plans. TVA
does not separately set aside assets to fund other benefit costs, but rather
funds such costs on an as-paid basis. TVA provided approximately $10
million and $6 million for other benefit costs during the three months ended
December 31, 2008, and 2007, respectively.
Financial markets have experienced
significant uncertainty since September 30, 2008, due to deteriorating economic
conditions. The uncertainty has resulted in significantly lower
market valuations for many investments. The impact of these events on
the TVA benefit plans is reflected in changes in the asset portfolio values from
$6.2 billion at September 30, 2008, to $5.1 billion at December 31,
2008. TVA has not determined at this time whether additional
contributions will be made to the pension plans in 2009.
9.
Seven States Power Corporation Obligation
On
September 30, 2008, Seven States Power Corporation (“SSPC”) exercised an option
to buy a portion of a three-unit, 792-megawatt summer net capability combined
cycle combustion turbine facility in Southaven, Mississippi formerly owned by
Southaven Power, LLC (“Southaven Power”). SSPC bought this portion
through its subsidiary, Seven States Southaven, LLC (“SSSL”). SSSL
paid TVA approximately $325 million and purchased an undivided 69.69 percent
interest in the facility. SSPC has the ability to acquire up to a 90
percent undivided interest in the facility and may increase its ownership in the
facility up to this amount on or after January 2, 2009, and not later than May
9, 2009. SSSL and TVA have entered into a lease under which TVA
leases SSSL’s undivided interest in the facility and operates the entire
facility through April 30, 2010. Revenues resulting from the sale of
electricity generated by Southaven Power and resulting expenses related to
generation are included on the Statements of operations for the three months
ended December 31, 2008.
As part
of the transaction, SSSL has the right at any time and for any reason to require
TVA to buy back SSSL’s interest in the facility at SSSL’s original purchase
price (plus the cost of SSSL’s share of any capital improvements) minus
amortization costs that TVA pays under the lease. As part of any such
buy-back, TVA would pay off the remaining balance on SSSL’s loan, with that
amount being credited against the buy-back price that TVA would pay to
SSSL. A buy-back may also be triggered under certain circumstances
including, among other things, a default by SSSL. Finally, TVA will
buy back SSSL’s interest in the facility if long-term operational and power
sales arrangements for the facility among TVA, SSSL, and SSPC are not in place
by April 30, 2010. TVA’s buy-back obligation will terminate if such long-term
arrangements are in place by that date. In the event of a buy-back,
TVA would re-acquire SSSL’s interest in the facility and the related
assets. While TVA does not plan to liquidate the assets to cover the
payments in the event of a buy-back, TVA believes its recourse in obtaining full
interest in the assets is sufficient to cover its obligation. Because
of TVA’s continued ownership interest in the facility as well as the buy-back
provisions, the transaction did not qualify as a sale and, accordingly, has been
recorded as a leaseback obligation. As of December 31, 2008, the
carrying amount of the obligation was approximately $322 million. TVA
has recognized the buy-back obligation as a Current portion of leaseback
obligations of $13 million and a long-term Leaseback obligations of $309 million
on its December 31, 2008, Balance Sheet.
10.
Legal Proceedings
TVA is
subject to various legal proceedings and claims that have arisen in the ordinary
course of business. These proceedings and claims include the matters
discussed below. In accordance with SFAS No. 5, “Accounting for Contingencies,” TVA had
accrued approximately $21 million with respect to the proceedings described
below as of December 31, 2008, as well as approximately $4 million with respect
to other proceedings that have arisen in the normal course of TVA’s
business. No assurance can be given that TVA will not be subject to
significant additional claims and liabilities. If actual liabilities
significantly exceed the estimates made, TVA’s results of operations, liquidity,
and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Legal Proceedings Related to
Kingston Ash Pond Spill – See Note 1.
Significant
Legal Proceedings to Which TVA Is a Party
Case Brought by North
Carolina Alleging Public Nuisance. On January 30, 2006, North
Carolina filed suit against TVA in the United States District Court for the
Western District of North Carolina alleging that TVA’s operation of its
coal-fired power plants in the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky
constitute public nuisances. North Carolina asked the court to impose
caps on emissions of certain pollutants from TVA’s coal-fired plants that North
Carolina considers to be equivalent to caps on emissions imposed by North
Carolina law on North Carolina’s two largest electric utilities. On
January 13, 2009, the court held that emissions from the Bull Run Fossil Plant
(“Bull Run”), the Kingston Fossil Plant (“Kingston”), the John Sevier Fossil
Plant (“John Sevier”), and the Widows Creek Fossil Plant (“Widows Creek”)
constitute a public nuisance. The first three plants are located in
Tennessee, and Widows Creek is located in Alabama. The court declined
to order any relief as to the remainder of TVA’s coal-fired plants, holding that
their emissions did not significantly impact North Carolina.
The court
ordered that:
•
|
The
flue gas desulfurization systems (“scrubbers”) and selective catalytic
reduction systems (“SCRs”) currently operating at Bull Run be properly
maintained and operated
year-round.
|
•
|
The
scrubbers under construction at Kingston be completed by December 31,
2010, and that Kingston’s scrubbers and SCRs be properly maintained and
operated year-round.
|
•
|
Scrubbers
and SCRs be installed and in operation for all four units at John Sevier
by December 31, 2011.
|
•
|
TVA
complete its plan to modernize the two existing scrubbers at Widows Creek,
and install scrubbers and SCRs at Widows Creek Units 1-6 by
December 31, 2013.
|
Additionally,
the court required units at the named plants to meet specified
emission rates and annual tonnage caps for NOx and
SO2
after the applicable operation dates for the scrubbers. Finally, the court
required TVA’s Chief Executive Officer to make semi-annual reports to the court
of TVA’s progress in complying with the order, beginning in July
2009.
TVA was
already in the process of performing or planning to perform some of the actions
ordered by the court. For example, the court’s instructions with
respect to Bull Run and Kingston are consistent with TVA’s current operating
procedures and construction schedule, and the modernization of the two existing
Widows Creek scrubbers is nearly complete. The court’s order will
require TVA to accelerate its schedule in some cases, such as by adding
scrubbers and SCRs at John Sevier by 2011, when the current schedule calls for
completing the scrubbers in mid-2012 and completing the SCRs by
2015. TVA could also be required to take additional measures not
currently planned or scheduled in order to comply with the court’s
order. Advancing the construction schedule or taking additional
actions could increase TVA’s expenses or cause TVA to change the way it operates
these facilities.
TVA
currently estimates that the total cost of taking all of the actions required by
the court would be approximately $1.8 billion through 2014. Of this
amount, TVA was already planning to spend approximately $0.8 billion before the
court issued its order. There could be other cost impacts, including
fuel, variable operation and maintenance (“O&M”), and fixed O&M, and
those costs are under evaluation.
On
January 28, 2009, TVA asked the court to clarify one aspect of its order dealing
with the schedule at John Sevier. TVA is currently reviewing the
decision and considering other options.
Case Involving Alleged
Violations of the New Source Review Regulations at Bull Run Fossil
Plant. The National Parks Conservation Association, Inc.
(“NPCA”), and the Sierra Club, Inc. (“Sierra Club”) filed suit against TVA on
February 13, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Tennessee, alleging that TVA did not comply with the new source review
(“NSR”) requirements of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) when TVA repaired Bull Run, a
coal-fired electric generating facility located in Anderson County,
Tennessee. Trial was scheduled for September 2, 2008, but the trial
was postponed, and the district court instead heard oral arguments on the
parties’ motions for summary judgment on that date. The trial has not
yet been rescheduled. TVA is already installing or has installed the
control equipment that the plaintiffs seek to require TVA to install in this
case, and
it is
unlikely that an adverse decision will result in substantial additional costs to
TVA at Bull Run. An adverse decision, however, could lead to
additional litigation and could cause TVA to install additional emission control
systems such as scrubbers and SCRs on units where they are not currently
installed, under construction, or planned to be installed. It is
uncertain whether there would be significant increased costs to
TVA.
Case Involving Opacity at
Colbert Fossil Plant. On September 16, 2002, the Sierra Club
and the Alabama Environmental Council filed a lawsuit in the United States
District Court for the Northern District of Alabama alleging that TVA violated
CAA opacity limits applicable to Colbert Fossil Plant (“Colbert”) between July
1, 1997, and June 30, 2002. The plaintiffs seek a court order that could require
TVA to incur substantial additional costs for environmental controls and pay
civil penalties of up to approximately $250 million. The district court
dismissed the complaint, finding that the challenged emissions were within
Alabama’s two percent de minimis rule, which provided a safe harbor if nonexempt
opacity monitor readings over 20 percent did not occur more than two percent of
the time each quarter. On November 22, 2005, the United States Court
of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (“Eleventh Circuit”) affirmed the district
court’s dismissal of the claims for civil penalties but held that the Alabama de
minimis rule was not applicable because Alabama had not yet obtained
Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approval of that rule. The
case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings. The
district court held that TVA had exceeded the 20 percent opacity limit (measured
in six-minute intervals) at various times between January 3, 2000, and September
30, 2002. EPA has since approved the rule, which is being challenged
in separate litigation before the Eleventh Circuit. On January 6,
2009, the district court dismissed the case, finding that the plaintiffs had not
established that a permanent injunction against TVA was justified, and that the
case was moot.
Case Involving AREVA Fuel
Fabrication. On April 19, 2007, AREVA filed suit in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleging that a
contract with TVA and AREVA’s predecessor required TVA to purchase certain
amounts of fuel fabrication services for TVA’s Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and/or
to pay a cancellation fee. AREVA subsequently claimed it was entitled
to $48 million. Trial on the question of liability was scheduled to
begin on September 22, 2008, but has been reset for April 20, 2009. A
second trial on the question of damages will be held later, if
necessary. TVA and AREVA have negotiated the terms of a settlement
agreement. The proposed settlement is subject to approval by the TVA
Board and is currently scheduled to be considered at the TVA Board’s next public
meeting.
Case Involving the General
Waste Products Sites. In July 2008, a third-party complaint
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(“CERCLA”) was filed against TVA in the District Court for the Southern District
of Indiana, alleging that TVA, and several other defendants, disposed of
hazardous materials at the General Waste Products sites in Evansville,
Indiana. TVA was named in the complaint based on allegations that TVA
arranged for the disposal of contaminated materials at the sites. The
other third-party defendants are General Waste Products, General Electric
Company, Indianapolis Power and Light, National Tire and Battery, Old Ben Coal
Co., Solar Sources Inc., Whirlpool, White County Coal, PSI, Tell City Electric
Department, Frontier Kemper, Speed Queen, Allan Trockman (the former operator of
the site), and the City of Evansville. This action was brought by the
Evansville Greenway PRP Group, a group of entities who are currently being sued
in the underlying case for disposing of hazardous materials at the sites, in
order to require the third-party defendants to contribute to, or pay for, the
remediation of the sites. The complaint also includes a claim under
state law against the defendants for the release of hazardous
materials. While the complaint does not specify the exact types of
hazardous substances at issue, a subpoena sent to TVA in 2003 by the owner of
the sites reflects that the primary issues involved lead from batteries and PCBs
from transformers. TVA has found no records indicating that it
arranged for disposal of these types of hazardous substances at the
sites.
Global Warming Cases,
Southern District of New York. On July 21, 2004, two lawsuits
were filed against TVA in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York alleging that global warming is a public nuisance and that
carbon dioxide (“CO2 “)
emissions from fossil-fuel electric generating facilities should be ordered
abated because they contribute to causing the nuisance. The first
case was filed by various states (California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New
York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin) and the City of New York against TVA
and other power companies. The second case, which alleges both public
and private nuisance, was filed against the same defendants by Open Space
Institute, Inc., Open Space Conservancy, Inc., and the Audubon Society of New
Hampshire. The plaintiffs do not seek monetary damages, but instead
seek a court order requiring each defendant to cap its CO2 emissions
and then reduce these emissions by an unspecified percentage each year for at
least a decade. In September 2005, the district court dismissed both
lawsuits because they raised political questions that should not be decided by
the courts. The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”). Oral argument was
held before the Second Circuit on June 7, 2006. On June 21, 2007, the
Second Circuit directed the parties to submit letter briefs by July 6, 2007,
addressing the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 127
S.Ct. 1438 (2007), on the issues raised by the parties. On July 6,
2007, the defendants jointly submitted their letter brief. The Second
Circuit has yet to issue its decision.
Case Arising out of
Hurricane Katrina. In April 2006, TVA was added as a defendant
to a class action lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Mississippi by 14 residents of Mississippi allegedly
injured by Hurricane Katrina. The plaintiffs sued seven large oil
companies and an oil company trade association, three large chemical companies
and a chemical trade association, and 31 large companies involved in the mining
and/or burning of coal, including TVA and other utilities. The
plaintiffs allege that the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions contributed to
global warming and were a proximate and direct cause of Hurricane Katrina’s
increased destructive force. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary
damages among other relief. TVA has moved to dismiss the complaint on
grounds that TVA’s operation of its coal-fired plants is not subject to tort
liability due to the discretionary function doctrine. The district
court dismissed the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked
standing. The plaintiffs appealed the dismissal to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and an oral argument was held before a
three judge panel during the week of November 3, 2008.
Paradise Fossil Plant Clean
Air Act Permit. On December 21, 2007, the Sierra Club, the
Center for Biological Diversity, Kentucky Heartwood, and Hilary Lambert filed a
petition with EPA raising objections to the conditions of TVA’s current CAA
permit at the Paradise Fossil Plant (“Paradise”). Among other things,
the petitioners allege that activities at Paradise triggered the NSR
requirements for NOx and that
the monitoring of opacity at Units 1 and 2 of the plant is
deficient. The current permit continues to remain in
effect. It is unclear whether or how the plant’s permit might be
modified as a result of this proceeding.
Notice of Violation at
Widows Creek Unit 7. On July 16, 2007, TVA received a Notice
of Violation (“NOV”) from EPA as a result of TVA’s failure to properly maintain
ductwork at Widows Creek Unit 7. From 2002 to 2005, the unit’s ducts
allowed SO2 to escape
into the air, but TVA repaired the ductwork in 2005. While the NOV
does not set out an administrative penalty, it is likely that TVA will face a
monetary sanction through giving up emission allowances, paying an
administrative penalty, or both. TVA and the State of Alabama entered
into an agreed order in which TVA agreed to pay the state
$100,000. TVA is unable to estimate the amount of potential monetary
sanctions from EPA for which TVA may be liable in connection with the
NOV.
Administrative Proceeding
Regarding Bellefonte Nuclear Plant Units 3 and 4. TVA
submitted its combined license application (“COLA”) to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (“NRC”) for Bellefonte Nuclear Plant (“Bellefonte”) Units 3 and 4 in
October 2007. If approved, the license to build and operate the plant
would be issued to TVA. Obtaining the necessary license would give
TVA more certainty about the cost and schedule of a nuclear option for future
decisions. The COLA for two AP1000 reactors at Bellefonte was
docketed by the NRC on January 18, 2008, indicating the NRC found it complete
and technically sufficient to support the NRC’s more detailed
reviews.
On June 6, 2008, a joint petition for
intervention and a request for a hearing was submitted to the NRC by the
Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, the Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The
petition raised 19 potential contentions with respect to TVA’s
COLA. Both TVA and the NRC staff opposed the admission of the
petitioners’ proposed contentions, and, as a result, the admission of the
petitioners as parties to the proceeding. Additionally, TVA opposed
the admission of one of the petitioners to the proceeding on the grounds that it
lacked standing. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board presiding over
the proceeding subsequently denied standing to one of the petitioners and
accepted four of the 19 contentions submitted by the remaining two
petitioners. A hearing on these admitted contentions will be
conducted in the future. The admitted contentions involved questions
about the estimated costs of the new nuclear plant, the storage of low-level
radioactive waste, and the impact of the facility’s operations, in particular
the plant intake, on aquatic species. Other COLA applicants have
received similar petitions raising similar potential contentions.
The TVA Board has not made a decision
to construct a new plant at the Bellefonte site, and TVA continues to evaluate
all nuclear generation options at the site.
Information Request from
EPA. On April 25, 2008, TVA received a request from EPA under
section 114 of the CAA requesting extensive information about projects at and
the operations of 14 of TVA’s 59 coal-fired units. These 14 units are
located in the States of Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This request
for information is similar to but broader than section 114 requests that
other companies have received during EPA’s NSR enforcement initiative. TVA
has responded to this request. EPA’s request could be the first step
in an administrative proceeding against TVA that could then result in litigation
in the courts.
Notification of Potential
Liability for Ward Transformer Site. The Ward Transformer site
in Raleigh, North Carolina, is contaminated by PCBs from electrical
equipment. EPA and a working group of potentially responsible parties
(the “PRP Work Group”) have provided documentation showing that TVA sent a
limited amount of electrical equipment containing PCBs to the site in
1974. The PRP Work Group is cleaning up on-site contamination
in
accordance
with an agreement with EPA. The cleanup effort has been divided into
four areas: two phases of soil cleanup; cleanup of off-site
contamination in the downstream drainage basis; and supplemental groundwater
remediation. The first phase of soil cleanup is underway, and the
high-end cost estimate for this work is about $66 million. There are
no reliable estimates for the second phase of soil and cleanup or the
supplemental groundwater remediation, although EPA has selected a cleanup plan
for the downstream drainage basin with a present worth cost estimate of $6
million. TVA understands that EPA has incurred approximately $3
million in past response costs, and the PRP Work Group has reimbursed EPA
approximately $725,000 of those costs. The PRP Work Group plans to
propose a cost allocation schedule which it will use as the basis for offering
settlements to PRPs for the first phase of soil cleanup. It plans to
sue PRPs who do not settle. There also may be natural resource
damages liability at this site, but TVA is not aware of any estimated amount for
any such damages. TVA has a potential defense that it only sent
useful equipment to Ward and thus is not liable for arranging for disposal of a
hazardous substance at the site.
Completion of Browns Ferry
Unit 1, Team Incentive Fee Pool Claims. Under the contracts
for the restart of TVA’s Browns Ferry Unit 1, TVA and the engineering and
construction contractors, Bechtel Power Corporation (“Bechtel”) and Stone &
Webster Construction, Inc. (“Stone and Webster”), respectively, are to share in
a team incentive fee pool funded from cost savings based on under runs in the
budgets for their respective work scopes. In 2008, Bechtel agreed to
settle its team incentive fee claim for a payment of $15 million, conditioned
upon Bechtel receiving an additional payment equal to any amount over $15
million that Stone and Webster receives in resolution of its team incentive fee
claim. On August 20, 2008, the TVA Board approved a proposed
settlement of various claims with Stone and Webster for consideration in the
amount of approximately $29 million, of which approximately $16 million
represented Stone and Webster’s Team Incentive Fee Pool claim
recovery.
Employment
Proceedings. TVA is engaged in various administrative and
legal proceedings arising from employment disputes. These matters are
governed by federal law and involve issues typical of those encountered in the
ordinary course of business of a utility. They may include
allegations of discrimination or retaliation (including retaliation for raising
nuclear safety or environmental concerns), wrongful termination, and failure to
pay overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Adverse outcomes in
these proceedings would not normally be material to TVA’s results of operations,
liquidity, and financial condition, although it is possible that some outcomes
could require TVA to change how it handles certain personnel matters or operates
its plants.
Significant Litigation to Which TVA Is
Not a Party
NSR Case Against Duke
Energy. On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court issued an opinion
in the case of United States
v. Duke Energy, vacating the ruling of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) in favor of Duke Energy and against
EPA in EPA’s NSR enforcement case against Duke Energy. The NSR
regulations apply primarily to the construction of new plants but can apply to
existing plants if a maintenance project (1) is “non-routine” and (2) increases
emissions. The Supreme Court held that under EPA’s Prevention of
Significant Deterioration regulations, increases in annual emissions should be
used for the test, not hourly emissions as utilities, including TVA, have argued
should be the standard. Annual emissions can increase when a project
improves the reliability of plant operations and, depending on the time period
over which emission changes are calculated, it is possible to argue that almost
all reliability projects increase annual emissions. Neither the
Supreme Court nor the Fourth Circuit addressed what the “routine” project test
should be. The United States District Court for the Middle District
of North Carolina had ruled for Duke on this issue, holding that “routine” must
take into account what is routine in the industry and not just what is routine
at a particular plant or unit as EPA has argued. EPA did not appeal this
ruling. On October 5, 2007, EPA filed a motion with the United States
District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina asking that court to
vacate its entire prior ruling, including the portion relating to the test for
“routine” projects.
TVA is currently involved in an NSR
case involving Bull Run, which is discussed in more detail above. The
Supreme Court’s rejection of the hourly standard for emissions testing could
undermine one of TVA’s defenses in the Bull Run case, although TVA has other
available defenses. Environmental groups and North Carolina have
given TVA notice in the past that they may sue TVA for alleged NSR violations at
a number of TVA units. The Supreme Court’s decision could encourage such suits,
which are likely to involve units where emission control systems such as
scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction systems are not installed, under
construction, or planned to be installed in the relatively near
term.
Case Involving North
Carolina’s Petition to EPA. In 2005, North Carolina petitioned
EPA under Section 126 of the CAA to impose additional emission reduction
requirements for SO2 and
NOx on
coal-fired power plants in 13 states, including the states where TVA’s
coal-fired power plants are located. In March 2006, EPA denied the
North Carolina petition primarily on the basis that the Clean Air Interstate
Rule remedies the problem. In June 2006, North Carolina filed a petition for
review of EPA’s decision with the D.C. Circuit. On October 1, 2007,
TVA filed a friend of the court brief in support of EPA’s decision to deny North
Carolina’s Section 126 petition.
Case Involving Clean Air
Interstate Rule. On July 11, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued a decision in State of North Carolina vs. EPA
that vacated the Clean Air Interstate Rule (“CAIR”) in its entirety and
directed the EPA to promulgate a new rule that is consistent with the D.C.
Circuit opinion. EPA promulgated CAIR in 2005 and the rule required significant
additional utility SO2 and
NOx
emission reductions to address ozone and fine particulate matter attainment
issues in 28 eastern states, including all of TVA’s operating area, and the
District of Columbia. EPA requested a rehearing of the case or, in
the alternative, that the case be remanded without CAIR being
vacated. On December 23, 2008, the D.C. Circuit granted the motion
and ordered EPA to develop a new rule but allowed CAIR to remain in effect
during this process.
Case Involving the Clean Air
Mercury Rule. On February 8, 2008, the D.C. Circuit issued an
opinion in the case of State
of New Jersey vs. EPA that vacated EPA’s decision to remove coal and
oil-fired Electric Generating Units from the list of stationary sources whose
hazardous air pollutant (“HAP”) emissions are subject to Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (“MACT”) standards under section 112 of the CAA.
The D.C. Circuit also vacated and remanded the Clean Air Mercury Rule (“CAMR”)
which set mercury limits via a cap-and-trade program. Unless the D.C.
Circuit’s ruling is reversed, or EPA is able to determine that mercury emissions
are adequately controlled in accordance with the D.C. Circuit’s remand
instructions, EPA will have to regulate mercury emissions from utilities under
section 112(d) of the CAA, setting MACT standards for emissions based on command
and control type requirements. The cost to comply with the MACT standards is not
known, but is expected to be higher than the cost would have been to comply with
CAMR. Regardless of the status of the EPA’s regulatory program for mercury, TVA
will continue to reduce mercury emissions from its coal-fired power
plants. Over the next five years, mercury emissions from its
coal-fired plants are expected to continue to decline, primarily as a result of
the co-benefits received from the controls TVA is installing to reduce SO2 and
NOx
emissions.
Case Involving Cooling Water
Intake Structures. On January 25, 2007, the Second Circuit
issued an opinion in the case of Riverkeeper, Inc., vs. EPA
that remanded the EPA’s Phase II Rule, which was the second phase of a
three-part rulemaking to minimize the adverse impacts from cooling water intake
structures on fish and shellfish, as required under Section 316(b) of the Clean
Water Act (“CWA”). The Second Circuit held, among other things, that
costs cannot be compared to benefits in picking the best technology available
(“BTA”) to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of intake structures. The
Utility Water Act Group, Entergy Corporation, and PSEG Fossil LLC filed a
petition seeking review of the decision by the Supreme Court. TVA and
the attorneys general of several states, including Alabama, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, supported this petition. On April 14, 2008, the Supreme
Court granted the petition, limiting its review to one issue: "Whether Section
316(b) of the CWA authorizes EPA to compare costs with benefits in determining
the 'best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact' at
cooling water intake structures.” The Department of Justice and industry
petitioners will defend the EPA rule supporting the concept that costs under the
rule should be limited to those that are “not significantly greater than” the
benefits to be derived. The case has been argued before the Supreme Court. TVA
is unable to predict the outcome.
(Dollars
in millions except where noted)
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
(“MD&A”) explains the results of operations and general financial condition
of TVA. The MD&A should be read in conjunction with the accompanying
financial statements and TVA’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended September 30, 2008 (the “Annual Report”).
During
the first quarter, three events at TVA’s fossil plants and hydro facilities were
reportable to federal state and local environmental and emergency response
agencies.
Kingston
Fossil Plant
The
Event. On December
22, 2008, a dike failed at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant (“Kingston”) located near
Kingston, Tennessee, allowing approximately five million cubic yards of water
and coal fly ash to flow out onto approximately 300 acres, including
approximately 50 acres of privately owned land. Some of the material flowed into
the nearby Watts Bar Reservoir at Emory River mile 2.5. The ash spill
rendered three homes uninhabitable because of structural damage. The
initial entry of the ash into Watts Bar Reservoir also created a large wave of
water that damaged or destroyed approximately 50 boat docks and caused other
water damage. The event also temporarily interrupted utilities to nearby
residents, blocked two local roads, and blocked a rail spur to the Kingston
plant.
At this
time, the cause of the event is not known. TVA has retained an independent
engineering firm to perform a root-cause analysis to determine the
cause. Additionally, TVA’s Office of Inspector General is performing
an independent assessment of the cause of the event.
Kingston
is one of the larger fossil plants operated by TVA. It generates 10 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to supply the needs of about
700,000 homes in the Tennessee Valley. While TVA has been
conservatively operating the plant since the event, TVA’s ability to operate the
plant itself was not affected by the ash release, although constraints
associated with the containment of fly ash produced by future operations could
limit the plant’s availability at some time in the future.
Response
and Cleanup. Fly ash is a by-product of a coal-fired plant. It is a gray
material with a consistency similar to flour. It is made up mostly of silica,
similar to sand. Though the ash itself is inert, it may contain trace amounts of
other substances that occur naturally in coal, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead,
mercury, and selenium. It is used in building products such as cement, mortar,
stucco, and grout. It also is used in some potting soils and as a soil
conditioner. TVA has sold fly ash commercially. At Kingston, fly ash
is placed in one of three wet ash containment areas. The involved containment
area covered approximately 84 acres. The depth of the containment area was
approximately 60 feet. The event resulted in about 60 acres of
contained wet ash being displaced.
Cleanup
and recovery efforts are being conducted in coordination with federal and state
agencies. Starting on the day of the event, TVA put equipment and personnel in
place to install floating booms to minimize the movement of cenospheres (inert
hollow spheres of sand-like material created in the coal-fired boiler) along the
river surface and to prepare for cleanup of the floating material.
Progress has been made in removing the ash from two local roads. The two roads
are still closed to public traffic but have been cleared sufficiently for use by
construction equipment. The rail spur has been cleared, and the plant
has resumed receiving shipments of coal by rail.
TVA is constructing structures in the
waterway, one weir and one dike, as part of the recovery. The weir is
underwater and the dike is above water. The weir allows water flow to
continue while trapping the ash material. The dike is
used to keep additional ash from moving into the river. The coal ash
in the Emory River and the temporary weir have raised the flood elevations
approximately 11 miles upstream from Kingston through Harriman. Until
the ash and the weir are removed, there is an increased risk of flooding for
some river-front properties. The change in the flood elevation is
only a temporary one until TVA removes the ash and underwater weir from the
river. After the ash and weir are removed, the flood elevations will
return to levels established before the spill. TVA’s financial
responsibility related to flood damages will also end at this time.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed
approximately four miles of the Emory River to navigation for 30 days subsequent
to the event, except for vessels involved in the sampling and recovery
operations. The Emory River has now been reopened by the U.S. Coast
Guard with navigation precautions in the area of the spill.
TVA does not currently have an
estimate as to how long the recovery process will take, but has begun to
estimate the cost of associated cleanup and recovery activities. TVA has
recognized an accrual of $525 million at December 31, 2008, in connection with
the current expected cleanup costs related to the event. Costs
incurred through December 31, 2008, totaled $4 million and are included in the
accrual above. Through January 31, 2009, actual costs incurred
totaled $31 million. The accrual currently includes, among
other things, a best estimate of costs to contain the cenospheres, reconstruct
roads and railways, perform sampling and analysis, and construct the weir and
dike and the low end of a range of estimates to remove an estimated 5 million
cubic yards of ash. The cost of the removal of the ash is in large
part dependent on the final disposal plan approved by regulatory authorities. At
this time, the full plan has not been filed with or approved by the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”). TVA did submit
its proposed Phase I Ash Removal Plan to the Environmental Protection Agency
(“EPA”), TDEC, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on February 5, 2009,
requesting approval. The proposed plan contains steps to begin to
remove ash from the Emory River channel by dredging the ash from the river
channel, pumping the material through a pipe to the on-site sluice channel,
allowing it to dry, and then removing it to a temporary storage location
on-site. The final plan may include various methods of disposal
ranging from storing ash on site to moving the ash offsite by barge or truck to
a developed landfill. Due to the uncertainty at this time of the plan
to be proposed, a range of reasonable estimates has been developed and the low
end of the range has been accrued. The range of estimated cost varies
from approximately $525 million to approximately $825 million, depending largely
on the method of disposal that will be used. This range could change
significantly if TVA is required to use a method of disposal other than what has
been considered at this time or the amount of ash to be disposed of
changes. The range can also be impacted by new laws and regulations
that may be imposed on TVA as part of changes to ash disposal regulations being
discussed at both the state and federal level.
No
amounts are included in the estimates above for regulatory actions, or
litigation, or any fines or penalties that may be assessed because TVA cannot
estimate these at this time. Also, all of the regulatory requirements for the
final closure of the site, the continued ground water monitoring requirements,
and any ongoing environmental impact studies that may be required are not known
at this time and are not included in the estimate. As ash removal
continues, it is possible that other environmentally sensitive material
potentially in the river sediment before the ash spill may be
uncovered. If other materials are identified, additional remediation
not included in the above estimates may be required.
TVA will
also be working with state and federal agencies to determine the extent of the
environmental impact of the ash release and the steps necessary to monitor and
restore the environment over the long term. At this time, TVA does
not know the extent of the damage or the remedies that will be required for
restoration.
Post-Spill Testing. The
EPA and TDEC began water quality testing shortly after the
event. TDEC reports that samples received to date show that municipal
water supplies meet drinking water standards. Samples taken of raw
water in the river also meet drinking water standards except for a few instances
for arsenic immediate to the site. A sample right after the spill and
samples after a large rain event showed total arsenic in the water to be above
drinking water standards, but still below fish and aquatic life
standards. All EPA, TDEC, and TVA water treatment facility sampling
results from Rockwood, Harriman, Cumberland, and Kingston, Tennessee indicate
that the municipal drinking water, which is filtered and treated by municipal
treatment facilities, continues to meet water quality standards.
Through
January 15, 2009, TDEC has sampled more than 65 private groundwater wells within
a four mile radius of the plant. All sample results were within safe
drinking water standards.
More than
9,200 mobile air monitoring samples have been collected offsite and in
residential areas. All sample results have been within the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Particulate Matter.
EPA soil
testing reports indicate that, except for arsenic, concentrations of metals in
the spilled ash are well below EPA Region 4 Removal Action Levels (“RALs”). Some
concentrations of arsenic were above the residential RALs but below the
industrial RALs. The concentrations are well below levels found in
well-fertilized soils and many naturally occurring soils in
Tennessee. In addition, the levels were significantly below the
limits to be classified as a hazardous waste.
Other
groups have also sponsored other testing of sediment in the vicinity of
Kingston. In some cases, these tests have been reported in the media
as finding levels of radium and arsenic that differ significantly from those
found by TVA and independent labs. TVA is continuing monitoring
activities and is reviewing the methodology and results of these
studies.
Insurance.
TVA has property and excess liability insurance programs in place which may
cover some of the costs. The insurers for each of these programs have been
notified of the event. TVA is working with its insurers to provide information,
as it becomes available, on the event and its cause, to determine applicable
coverage. As a result, no estimate for potential insurance recovery has been
accrued at this time.
Claims
and Litigation. TVA has received claims for damages from private individuals and
companies allegedly affected by the event, and TVA expects to receive additional
claims. Several lawsuits have been filed, including class action lawsuits, and
TVA has received three notices of intent to sue. TVA’s potential costs related
to claims or lawsuits cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.
On December 30, 2008, four individual
property owners in Roane County, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit in the Roane County
Circuit Court against TVA and certain TVA officers. The complaint
alleges that TVA negligently caused the ash spill at Kingston, and that the ash
spill damaged their property. They are seeking $165 million dollars
($15 million in compensatory damages and $150 million in punitive damages) for
the damage to their property.
Three lawsuits seeking class action
status for individuals allegedly damaged by the Kingston ash pond spill have
been filed against TVA in the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville,
Tennessee:
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•
|
The
first was filed on January 7, 2009, by a landowner in Roane County,
Tennessee, on behalf of himself and all similarly situated landowners. The
lawsuit alleges that the ash spill constitutes a private nuisance which
has interfered with the use and value of the property of the proposed
class members, and seeks compensatory damages in excess of $5
million.
|
|
•
|
The
second lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2009, by nine individual landowners
in Roane County, Tennessee, against TVA. The plaintiffs are seeking class
action status on behalf of all similarly situated persons. The
complaint alleges, among other things, negligence and inverse condemnation
and seeks compensatory damages in excess of $5
million.
|
|
•
|
The
third lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2009, by six individual landowners
in Roane County, Tennessee, and one local business. The
plaintiffs are seeking class action status on behalf of all entities
(including individuals and businesses) located within a 25-mile radius of
Kingston. The complaint alleges, among other things, gross
negligence, strict liability, nuisance per se, and violation of various
state and federal environmental statutes. The plaintiffs seek,
among other forms of relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and
an injunction requiring TVA to perform immediate medical and environmental
testing, to abate the nuisance, and to remediate the environmental
damage.
|
A coalition of environmental groups
including the Sierra Club has sent TVA a notice of intent to sue over alleged
violations of federal laws related to the Kingston ash spill. The
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has also sent TVA two notices of its intent
to sue. In addition to the lawsuits that have been filed, TVA has
received substantial claims from private individuals and companies allegedly
affected by the ash spill, and expects to receive additional
claims. TVA cannot reasonably estimate at this time the amount,
if any, for which TVA might be liable in regards to these claims.
TDEC
Order. On January 12, 2009, TDEC issued an administrative order
in connection with the Kingston ash spill. The order is based on a
finding of an emergency requiring immediate action to protect the public health,
safety, or welfare, or the health of animals, fish, or aquatic life, or a public
water supply, or recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other
reasonable uses. The order assesses no penalties, addressing just the
corrective action for the emergency situation. TDEC reserves the
right to issue further orders. Among other things, the order requires
TVA to:
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•
|
Continue
to implement actions to prevent the movement and migration of sediment
contaminated with ash further
downstream,
|
|
•
|
Provide
support for TDEC’s comprehensive review of all TVA coal ash impoundments
located within Tennessee,
|
|
•
|
Submit
to TDEC all existing studies, reports, and memoranda that are potentially
relevant to explaining or analyzing the failure of the Kingston
containment structures,
|
|
•
|
Provide
support for TDEC’s initial assessment of the impact of the ash release on
all waters of the state, including wetlands and
groundwaters,
|
• Submit
to TDEC a Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”) that includes a plan for:
|
–
|
Remediating
impacted segments of the environment and restoration of all natural
resource damages,
|
– Monitoring
air and water,
– Providing
protection of public and private drinking water supplies,
– Managing
on a short-term and long-term basis coal ash at Kingston, and
– Addressing
any health and safety hazards,
• Implement
the CAP upon its approval by TDEC,
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•
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Assist
TDEC in the evaluation to determine the need for further remedial action
or monitoring beyond that already conducted under the CAP, and if
additional actions are determined by TDEC to be necessary, submit plans
for and implement the additional activities,
and
|
• Pay
all costs associated with TDEC’s investigation of the ash release.
In a
letter to TVA dated February 5, 2009, EPA and TDEC expressed their
commitment to work collaboratively in their oversight of cleanup activities
associated with the ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant. The commitment
by EPA and TDEC will help ensure that the reviews and approvals by the two
regulatory agencies will be conducted in an efficient and expeditious
manner. Also, EPA and TDEC informed TVA that they concluded that the
Kingston ash spill was in violation of the Clean Water Act ("CWA") and have
requested that TVA provide duplicate copies of all plans, reports, work
proposals and other submittals to EPA and TDEC simultaneously. EPA and TDEC, in
turn, will coordinate their reviews and approvals.
Fly Ash Control. At Kingston, fly ash
is collected in wet ash ponds. Six of the eleven fossil plants operated by TVA
use wet fly ash collection ponds. The other five plants use a dry collection
method. TVA’s ash collection sites follow the permit requirements for the states
in which they are constructed. They are surrounded by dikes and incorporate
drain systems and water runoff controls. TVA’s ash collection areas undergo
daily visual inspections, quarterly state inspections, and annual detailed
engineering inspections which include an assessment report. In
addition, TVA has retained an independent engineering firm to perform by-product
facility assessments at TVA’s eleven active and one closed fossil plants, and
the assessment work is underway. The root cause analysis firm hired
to investigate the Kingston event is sharing information with the assessment
contractor.
Currently, coal combustion by-products,
including fly ash, are not regulated as hazardous waste. Regulations could be
promulgated or legislation could be passed that would address how TVA and others
that operate coal-fired plants provide for coal ash containment. TVA is unable
to predict at this time whether any regulatory actions may be taken, or what the
outcome or impact of any such regulations could be.
Widows
Creek Gypsum Pond
A discharge from the gypsum pond at
Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Stevenson, Alabama, was discovered January 9, 2009,
by contractors who were conducting a routine inspection. The discharge stopped
the same day it was discovered when the level of the pond reached the level of
the exposed weir. TVA determined that a cap had dislodged from an
unused 36-inch standpipe in the gypsum pond which allowed water and gypsum to
bypass the existing weir system and drain into the adjacent settling pond,
filling it to capacity and causing it to overflow. TVA notified
appropriate federal and state authorities. TVA filled the unused pipe
with 120 cubic yards of grout.
Gypsum ponds hold limestone from TVA’s
scrubbers that clean SO2 from
coal-plant emissions. Gypsum contains calcium sulfate, which is
commonly used in drywall, a commercially sold construction
material. Some of the material overflowed into Widows Creek, although
most of the material remained in the settling pond. The released
material contained water and a mixture of predominantly gypsum and some fly
ash.
TVA is working with the EPA and the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management to continue to sample the
water. TVA also notified local water companies following the
release. EPA and TVA are working from a formal testing plan, approved
by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, that includes taking
water samples on the Tennessee River and Widows Creek. The levels of
metals, solids, and nutrients detected from the Tennessee River are below the
national primary drinking water standards that apply to public water systems for
treated water.
Ocoee
Hydro Plant
On January 3, 2009, TVA
opened Ocoee No. 3 sluice gates to lower the reservoir elevation to
prepare for work on Ocoee No. 2 Dam. Large amounts of sediment were
released downstream above Ocoee No. 2 and around the Olympic Course, and a
number of fish were killed. On January 9, 2009, TDEC issued a Notice
of Violation for the release of sediments, instructing TVA to cease sluicing
operations from Ocoee No. 3 Dam and to restore the affected area of the Ocoee
River to pre-event status.
On January 12, TDEC issued a Director’s
Order, replacing the Notice of Violation. The order required TVA to
cease all sluicing operations, submit a restoration plan for the section of
river between Ocoee No. 3 Dam and Ocoee No. 3 Powerhouse, and submit a Best
Management Practices Plan. TVA ceased sluicing
immediately. On January 22, 2009, TVA submitted a plan for
restoration and a Best Management Practices Plan.
Financial
Outlook
Financial
Overview. Net loss for the three
months ended December 31, 2008, was $305 million compared to net income of $8
million for the three months ended December 31, 2007. This change was
primarily due to an increase of $461 million in fuel and purchased power expense
and $525 million in expenses related to the Kingston fly ash
spill. These increases in expenses were partially offset by a $717
million increase in revenue.
Although
revenues increased approximately 30 percent, sales decreased approximately 2
percent. The 30 percent increase in revenue was primarily due to an
increase in the Fuel Cost Adjustment (“FCA”) rate due to higher fuel and
purchased power costs and base rate increases effective April 1, 2008, and
October 1, 2008. These rate increases provided $482 million and $259
million in additional revenues in the first quarter of 2009. The
effects of the economic downturn are resulting in less demand for electric power
by certain customer types. Some directly served customers have
reduced production in response to the downturn. Through December
2008, municipal and cooperative sales have experienced less than a one percent
growth rate compared to the prior year, while directly served industrial
sales are down approximately nine percent. In December 2008, TVA
projected that sales for 2009 would be approximately five percent below the
initial yearly forecast.
Investment
Performance. The performance of debt, equity, and other
markets in 2008 negatively impacted the asset values of investments held in
TVA’s pension and decommissioning trust funds. During the quarter
ended December 31, 2008, the investments in the TVA Retirement System declined
in value $1.1 billion. As of December 31, 2008, the TVA retirement
system was approximately 65 percent funded. Because of these
declines, TVA may be required to make additional contributions to the TVA
Retirement System in the future.
During the quarter ended December 31,
2008, the nuclear decommissioning trust (“NDT”) portfolio declined in value $184
million. As of September 30, 2008, TVA’s NDT funding was 98 percent
of the estimated present value of the funding requirements established by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”).
During the period September 30, 2008,
through December 31, 2008, the change in the Standard &
Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 benchmark index was a decrease of 22
percent.
TVA will submit its biennial NDT
funding status report to the NRC in March 2009. The report is based
on the status of the funding requirement as of December 31, 2008. TVA
anticipates it may make contributions to the NDT or provide other methods of
decommissioning funding assurance necessary to match projected decommissioning
fund balances. TVA is monitoring the monetary value of its NDT fund
in light of recent market performance and believes that, over the long-term
before cessation of nuclear plant operations and commencement of decommissioning
activities, adequate funds from investments will be available to support
decommissioning.
TVA does not anticipate making
significant changes in its basic investment policies as a result of current
market conditions. See Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Risk Management Activities —
Investment Price Risk in TVA’s Annual Report.
Summary
of Recent Financial Market Conditions on Investment Portfolios
2008
|
||||||||
September
30*
|
December
31*
|
|||||||
Retirement
System
|
$ | 6,188 | $ | 5,057 | ||||
Nuclear
Decommissioning Trust
|
845 | 661 |
|
*
|
Investment
balances at September 30, 2008 per Annual Report. Investment
balances at December 31, 2008, are based on preliminary trustee
statements.
|
Weather
Conditions. Rainfall in the eastern Tennessee
Valley was 96 percent of normal and runoff was 65 percent of normal for the
first quarter of 2009. Rainfall and runoff have continued to improve
since December 31, 2008, with rainfall at 99 percent of normal and runoff at 79
percent of normal for the fiscal year as of January 31,
2009. Hydroelectric generation increased during the four months
ending January 31, 2009, in comparison to the four months ending January 31,
2008, as a result of heavy rains. Hydroelectric generation was 2.0
billion kilowatt-hours during the first quarter of 2009, which was 1.1 billion
kilowatt-hours higher than the first quarter of 2008; also, hydroelectric
generation was 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours during the month of January 2009,
which was 0.9 billion kilowatt-hours higher than the month of January
2008.
On
January 16, 2009, TVA met a record winter demand of 32,572 megawatts without any
customer interruptions. During the hour of peak supply, purchased
power constituted approximately 16 percent of TVA's load.
Lower
Commodity Prices and Effects on Fuel Cost Adjustment. Due to falling commodity prices across
domestic and international markets, TVA experienced lower-than-expected costs in
short-term markets for natural gas, fuel oil, and electricity during the first
quarter of 2009. The average market prices for these commodities for
the quarter ended December 31, 2008, were 8 percent, 28 percent, and 14 percent
lower, respectively, as compared to the average market prices for the quarter
ended December 31, 2007. Coal markets have reacted more slowly than
other fuel markets and remain well above the previous year’s
levels. Average market prices for coal for the quarter ended December
31, 2008, were 114 percent higher as compared to the average market prices for
the quarter ended December 31, 2007. Average market prices for these
commodities for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, and 2007, are shown in the
table below.
Commodity
Pricing Table
|
||||||||||||
For
the Three Months Ended December 31
|
||||||||||||
Prices
|
||||||||||||
Commodity
|
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
|||||||||
Natural
Gas (Henry Hub, $/mmBtu)
|
$ | 6.43 | $ | 6.96 | (8 | %) | ||||||
Fuel
Oil (Gulf Coast, $/mmBtu)
|
$ | 12.70 | $ | 17.52 | (28 | %) | ||||||
Coal
(FOB mine $/ton)
|
$ | 62.76 | $ | 29.38 | 114 | % | ||||||
Electricity
(Into-TVA, $/MWh)
|
$ | 49.27 | $ | 57.12 | (14 | %) |
Although the FCA provides a mechanism
to regularly alter rates to reflect changing fuel and purchased power costs,
there is a lag between the occurrence of a change in fuel and purchased power
costs and the reflection of the change in rates. As a result, TVA’s
cash flows can be positively or negatively affected by the FCA. As of
December 31, 2008, TVA had collected excess revenues to offset fuel and
purchased power costs. The excess revenue was driven by market commodity prices
being lower than those forecasted. At December 31, 2008, TVA
recognized a short-term regulatory liability of $322 million and a long-term
regulatory liability of $46 million because of the change in market conditions.
At September 30, 2008, TVA recognized a regulatory asset related to the FCA,
which reflected a net under-recovery of fuel and purchased power costs. See Note 2 – Cost-Based Regulation and
Fuel Cost
Adjustment.
Customers. Monticello EPB (“MEPB”)
provided the required five year notice to terminate its TVA power
contract on November 20, 2003. As a result, it was no longer a
distributor of TVA power effective midnight on Thursday, November 20,
2008. TVA had provided electric service to Monticello,
Kentucky, since 1960, and sales to MEPB accounted for approximately 0.1 percent
of TVA’s annual revenues.
New
Generation. In September 2005, NuStart Development LLC
(“NuStart”) selected the site of TVA’s Bellefonte Nuclear Plant (“Bellefonte”)
as one of the two sites in the country for a new advanced design nuclear plant.
NuStart is an industry consortium comprised of 10 utilities and two reactor
vendors whose purpose is to satisfactorily demonstrate the new NRC licensing
process for new nuclear plants. NuStart intends to seek a combined
construction and operating license for the site for the new Advanced Passive
1000 reactor design by Westinghouse Electric Co. As the license
applicant, TVA submitted its combined license application to NRC for Bellefonte
Units 3 and 4 in October 2007, and it was accepted for detailed review by the
NRC on January 18, 2008. If approved, the license to build and
operate the plant would be issued to TVA. A delay in the review
schedule has occurred on one section of the application and the NRC is
expected to complete an evaluation of its Combined Construction and
Operating License application review schedule in early 2009 prior to
making a decision as to the new schedule. The TVA Board has not made
a decision to construct a new plant at the Bellefonte site, and TVA continues to
evaluate all nuclear generation options at the site.
As part
of this evaluation, TVA asked the NRC in August 2008 to reinstate the
construction permits for its two unfinished nuclear units at the Bellefonte
site. A decision by the NRC on this request is expected
potentially in the second quarter of 2009. Reinstating the construction
permits would allow TVA to place the units in a deferred status again with the
NRC and would help TVA clarify the regulatory requirements and continue to
evaluate the feasibility of using Bellefonte Units 1 and 2 to meet future
base-load power demand.
Renewables and Clean
Energy. In December 2008, TVA issued a request for proposal
(“RFP”) seeking proposals which may result in TVA obtaining both dispatchable
capacity and as-available energy from renewable energy sources, clean energy
sources, or sources that are considered to be both renewable and clean energy
sources. The RFP seeks proposals for the supply to TVA of up to a
total of 500 megawatts of dispatchable capacity capable of being delivered by
June 1, 2009, increasing to up to a total of 750 megawatts of dispatchable
capacity capable of being delivered as of June 1, 2010, and further increasing
to up to a total of 1,000 megawatts of dispatchable capacity capable of being
delivered as of June 1, 2011. TVA has received over 60 responses to
the RFP and has begun a detailed evaluation of the proposals.
On
January 30, 2009, TVA announced a request for proposals from vendors concerning
the future use and operation of TVA’s three turbine wind farm on Buffalo
Mountain about 10 miles north of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, near
Knoxville. TVA will consider any of a variety of options for using
the three TVA-owned turbines and the site. Proposals involving
contractors providing operation and maintenance services, technical research and
development partnerships, transfer of ownership with a power-purchase agreement,
or other innovative arrangements will be considered. The three
turbines, with a capacity of 660 kilowatts each, were installed in 2000,
establishing the first successful wind farm in the
Southeast. Proposals must be received by March 2, 2009.
TVA
quantifies the results of its operations in accordance with its Strategic
Plan. The Strategic Plan focuses on TVA’s performance in the
following five broad areas and establishes general guidelines for each
area:
Customers:
|
Maintain
power reliability, provide competitive rates, and build trust with TVA’s
customers;
|
People: | Build pride in TVA’s performance and reputation; |
Financial: | Adhere to a set of sound financial guiding principles to improve TVA’s fiscal performance; |
Assets: | Use TVA’s assets to meet market demand and deliver public value; and |
Operations: | Improve performance to be recognized as an industry leader. |
The
Strategic Plan also outlines the policy-level direction for TVA and lists
corporate-level metrics to be used in monitoring progress toward successful
implementation of the plan. These metrics encompass aspects of TVA’s
mission in energy, the environment, and economic development and may change from
time to time. TVA’s Board approved these metrics on December 11,
2008.
Sources
of Liquidity
To meet short-term cash needs and
contingencies, TVA depends on various sources of liquidity. TVA’s
primary sources of liquidity are cash from operations and proceeds from the
issuance of short-term and long-term debt. TVA’s current liabilities
exceed current assets because of continued use of short-term debt to fund
short-term cash needs, including posting collateral as necessary in connection
with a call monetization transaction (as discussed below) and meeting scheduled
maturities of long-term debt.
Financial markets experienced extreme
volatility in 2008, and have continued to experience extreme volatility into
2009 amid negative developments in housing and mortgage-related activities,
weakness of major financial institutions, government actions, and negative
economic developments. These conditions have resulted in disruptions
in credit and lending activities, particularly in the short-term credit markets
through which corporate institutions borrow and lend to each
other. Disruptions in the short-term credit markets have the
potential to impact TVA because TVA uses short-term debt to meet working capital
needs, and because it typically invests its cash holdings in the short-term debt
securities of other institutions.
TVA has not experienced difficulty in
issuing short-term debt, or in refunding maturing debt, despite the disruptions
in the credit markets. Throughout the period of market volatility,
TVA has experienced strong demand for its short-term discount notes, and has
been able to issue discount notes at competitive rates.
Other than issuing electronotes®, which
are retail notes and are generally smaller in size than TVA’s other long-term
debt, TVA has not issued long-term debt since June 2008. Despite
conditions in the credit markets, TVA believes it would be able to issue
long-term debt if needed.
Management expects continued demand for
TVA short-term debt securities. Along with the short-term debt
program, management expects operating cash flows, cash on hand, and access to
credit facilities to continue to provide more than adequate liquidity for TVA
for the foreseeable future.
Management is not able to anticipate
the long-term impacts of recent financial market turmoil on TVA, the financial
markets in which TVA participates, or the economy of the Tennessee
Valley. In addition, management is not able to anticipate the
long-term impacts of recent environmental-related events on
TVA. Management closely monitors conditions in the markets in which
TVA conducts business and the financial health of companies with which it does
business, and will continue to monitor these conditions in the future in an
effort to be proactive in maintaining financial health. TVA may need
to seek additional funding should any of these conditions warrant additional
cash resources. TVA’s options for additional funding include, but are
not limited to, an increase in rates, additional borrowing, evaluation of
capital projects, and/or other financial arrangements. Certain
options for additional funding may require approval of the TVA
Board.
The
majority of TVA’s balance of cash on hand is typically invested in short-term
investments. The daily balance of cash and cash equivalents
maintained is based on near-term expectations for cash expenditures and funding
needs. Under the current market conditions, on average TVA has placed
more of its short-term investments in U.S. Treasury securities and less in
commercial paper money market funds.
In
addition to cash from operations, and proceeds from the issuance of short-term
and long-term debt, TVA’s sources of liquidity include a $150 million credit
facility with the U.S. Treasury, two credit facilities totaling $2.25 billion
with a national bank, and occasional proceeds from other financing arrangements
including call monetization transactions, sales of assets, and sales of
receivables and loans. Certain sources of liquidity are discussed
below.
Summary Cash
Flows. A
major source of TVA’s liquidity is operating cash flows resulting from the
generation and
sale of electricity. A summary of cash flow components for the
quarters ended December 31, 2008, and 2007, follows:
Summary
Cash Flows
For the
Three Months Ended December 31
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Cash
provided by (used in):
|
||||||||
Operating
activities
|
$ | 769 | $ | 302 | ||||
Investing
activities
|
(1,062 | ) | (482 | ) | ||||
Financing
activities
|
233 | 173 | ||||||
Net
decrease in cash and cash equivalents
|
$ | (60 | ) | $ | (7 | ) |
Issuance of
Debt. TVA
issues power bonds primarily to refinance previously-issued power bonds as they
mature. During the quarter ended December 31, 2008, TVA issued $39
million of power bonds with an interest rate of 5.04 percent. See
Note 5 for more information related to TVA’s debt activities.
Credit Facility
Agreements. TVA’s $150 million note with the U.S. Treasury
expired at the end of 2008. In December 2008, TVA and the U.S. Treasury replaced
the $150 million note with a memorandum of understanding under which TVA has a
$150 million credit facility. TVA plans to use the U.S. Treasury credit facility
as a source of liquidity, but not as a primary source of liquidity, in
2009. The interest rate on any borrowing under this facility is based
on the average rate on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States
with maturities from date of issue of one year or less. There were no
outstanding borrowings under the facility at December 31, 2008.
TVA also has short-term funding
available in the form of two short-term revolving credit facilities, one of
which is a $1.25 billion facility that matures on May 13, 2009, and the other of
which is a $1 billion facility that matures on November 9, 2009. The
interest rate on any borrowing under both of these facilities is variable and
based on market factors and the rating of TVA’s senior unsecured long-term
non-credit enhanced debt. TVA is required to pay an unused facility
fee on the portion of the total $2.25 billion against which TVA has not
borrowed. The fee may fluctuate depending on the non-enhanced credit
ratings on TVA’s senior unsecured long-term debt. There were no
outstanding borrowings under the facilities at December 31, 2008. TVA
anticipates renewing each credit facility as it matures. TVA
anticipates that when it renews the second credit facility in May 2009, the
amount of this facility will be reduced.
Call Monetization
Transactions. From time to time TVA
has entered into swaption transactions to monetize the value of call provisions
on certain of its Bond issues. A swaption grants a third party the
right to enter into a swap agreement with TVA under which TVA receives a
floating rate of interest and pays the third party a fixed rate of interest
equal to the interest rate on the Bond issue whose call provision TVA monetized.
As a result of an unprecedented inversion of the swap yield curve and
volatility in global financial markets, coupled with a decrease in swap rates to
historically low rates, beginning December 1, 2008, TVA was required
to post collateral with a counterparty under the terms of a swaption
agreement ($1 billion notional). At December 31, 2008, the value of the swaption
was such that TVA posted $455 million with a custodian for benefit of the
counterparty.
Comparative
Cash Flow Analysis
2009
Compared to 2008
Net cash provided by operating
activities increased $467 million from $302 million to $769 million for the
three months ended December 31, 2007, and 2008, respectively. This increase
resulted primarily from an increase in operating revenues of $717 million, a
decrease in cash outlays for routine and recurring operating costs of $14
million, and a decrease in cash paid for interest of $12
million. Operating revenues increased primarily from increases in
revenue from municipalities and cooperatives, primarily due to the FCA which
provided $426 million in additional revenues and base rate increases effective
April 1, 2008, and October 1, 2008, which provided $225 million in additional
revenue. These items were partially offset by an increase in cash
used by changes in working capital of $137 million and an increase in cash paid
for fuel and purchased power of $98 million due to an increase in coal market
prices.
Working
capital changed primarily due to an increase in accounts receivable of $12
million for the first quarter of 2009 compared to a decrease of $247 million for
the same period in 2008, a greater reduction in interest payable of $29 million,
and a larger increase in inventories and other of $30 million, partially offset
by a smaller decrease in accounts payable of $181 million.
Net cash used in investing activities
increased $580 million from $482 million to $1,062 million for the three months
ended December 31, 2007, and 2008, respectively. The increase is
primarily due to collateral posted with a
custodian
for the benefit of a counterparty under the terms of a swaption agreement of
$455 million, an increase in expenditures for capital projects of $56 million,
an increase in cash used for restricted cash and investments of $17 million for
the first quarter of 2009 compared to an increase in cash provided of $23
million for the same period in 2008, and an increase in expenditures for the
enrichment and fabrication of nuclear fuel of $31 million related to higher
prices paid for enriched uranium and the normal year to year variability
resulting from the timing of refueling outages at the nuclear
plants.
Net cash
provided by financing activities increased $60 million from $173 million to $233
million for the three months ended December 31, 2007, and 2008,
respectively. The increase was primarily due to an increase in net
issuances of short-term debt of $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2009
compared with the same quarter of the prior year. This was partially
offset by redemptions and repurchases of long-term debt of $2 billion in the
first quarter of 2009, with no long-term debt retired in the first quarter of
2008.
Cash
Requirements and Contractual Obligations
The
estimated cash requirements and contractual obligations for TVA as of December
31, 2008, are detailed in the following table.
Commitments
and Contingencies
Payments
due in the year ending September 30
20091 |
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Thereafter
|
Total
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Debt
|
$ | 2,423 | $ | – | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,514 | $ | 2,388 | $ | 15,602 | $ | 22,9272 | ||||||||||||||
Interest
payments relating to debt
|
808 | 1,188 | 1,160 | 1,132 | 987 | 15,989 | 21,264 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Lease
obligations
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital
|
51 | 375 | 51 | 4 | – | – | 481 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Non-cancelable
operating
|
46 | 58 | 48 | 43 | 33 | 205 | 433 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Purchase
obligations
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power
|
174 | 236 | 248 | 232 | 177 | 6,092 | 7,159 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Fuel
|
1,381 | 1,062 | 667 | 404 | 333 | 894 | 4,741 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Other
|
52 | 25 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 84 | 207 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Expenditures
for emission control commitments
|
179 | 183 | 489 | 573 | 302 | 112 | 1,838 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Payments
on leasebacks
|
78 | 89 | 95 | 97 | 100 | 919 | 1,378 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Payment
to U.S. Treasury
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Return
of Power Facilities
Appropriation
Investment
|
20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 110 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Return
on Power Facilities
Appropriation
Investment
|
14 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 155 | 246 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Retirement
plans
|
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total
|
$ | 5,226 | $ | 3,257 | $ | 3,812 | $ | 4,054 | $ | 4,373 | $ | 40,062 | $ | 60,784 |
Note
(1)
|
Period
January 1 – September 30, 2009
|
(2)
|
Does
not include noncash items of foreign currency valuation gain of $53
million and net discount on sale of Bonds of $199
million.
|
Expenditures for emission control
commitments represent TVA’s current estimate of costs that may be incurred as a
result of the court order in the case brought by North Carolina alleging public
nuisance. Management is evaluating alternatives which could change
these amounts in the future. See Note 10 — Case Brought by North Carolina
Alleging Public Nuisance.
During 2008, TVA executed certain
contracts related to the resumption of construction activities at Watts Bar Unit
2. As of December 31, 2008, expenditures against these contracts are
forecasted to be approximately $1.2 billion through 2012.
In addition to the cash requirements
above, TVA has contractual obligations in the form of revenue discounts related
to energy prepayments. See Note 2 — Energy Prepayment
Obligations.
Energy
Prepayment Obligations
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Thereafter
|
Total
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Energy
Prepayment Obligations
|
$ | 79 | $ | 105 | $ | 105 | $ | 105 | $ | 102 | $ | 511 | $ | 1,007 |
Sales
of Electricity
Sales
of Electricity
|
||||||||||||
For
the three months ended December 31
(millions
of kWh)
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
||||||||||
Municipalities
and cooperatives
|
32,574 | 32,476 | 0.3 | % | ||||||||
Industries
directly served
|
8,947 | 9,818 | (8.9 | %) | ||||||||
Federal
agencies and other
|
541 | 441 | 22.7 | % | ||||||||
Total
sales of electricity
|
42,062 | 42,735 | (1.6 | %) | ||||||||
Heating
degree days (normal 1,311)
|
1,389 | 1,058 | 31.3 | % | ||||||||
Cooling
degree days (normal 64)
|
71 | 150 | (52.7 | %) | ||||||||
Combined
degree days (normal 1,375)
|
1,460 | 1,208 | 20.9 | % | ||||||||
Significant items contributing to the
673 million kilowatt-hour decrease in electricity sales for the first quarter of
2009 compared to the same period in 2008 include an 871 million kilowatt-hour
decrease in sales to Industries Directly Served, partially offset by a 100
million kilowatt-hour increase in sales to Federal Agencies and Other and a 98
million kilowatt-hour increase in sales to Municipalities and
Cooperatives.
The decrease in sales to Industries
Directly Served was mainly attributable to decreased demand among several of
TVA’s directly served industrial customers as a result of lower production
levels at their facilities. The decrease in demand is primarily due
to a downturn in the economy, which affects TVA’s directly served industrial
customers more than other customer types.
The
increase in Federal Agencies and Other was due to a 69 million kilowatt-hour
increase in sales to directly served federal agencies largely attributable to an
increase in demand by two directly served federal agencies, which accounted for
93 percent of this increase. TVA also experienced a 31 million
kilowatt-hour increase in off-system sales due to increased generation available
for sale.
The increase in sales to municipalities
and cooperatives is largely due to an increase in sales to residential customers
as a result of an increase in combined degree days of 252 and the addition of a
municipal and cooperative customer not present in the first quarter of
2008. The increase in combined degree days and the addition of a
customer were partially offset due to a decrease in demand among commercial and
industrial customers on account of the downturn in the economy.
Financial
Results
The following table compares operating
results for the three months ended December 31, 2008, and 2007:
Summary
Statements of Operations
For the
Three Months Ended December 31
2008
|
2007
|
|||||||
Operating
revenues
|
$ | 3,077 | $ | 2,360 | ||||
Operating
expenses
|
(3,042 | ) | (2,012 | ) | ||||
Operating
income
|
35 | 348 | ||||||
Other
(expense) income
|
(9 | ) | 3 | |||||
Interest
expense, net
|
(331 | ) | (343 | ) | ||||
Net
(loss) income
|
$ | (305 | ) | $ | 8 | |||
Net loss for the three months ended
December 31, 2008, was $305 million compared to net income of $8 million for the
same period in 2007. The $313 million change in net income was
primarily attributable to a $1,030
million
increase in operating expenses and a $12 million change in other (expense)
income as more fully described below. These items were partially
offset by a $717 million increase in operating revenues and a $12 million
decrease in net interest expense.
Operating
Revenues. Operating revenues for the three months ended
December 31, 2008, and 2007, consisted of the following:
Operating
Revenues
For
the Three Months Ended December 31
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
||||||||||
Sales
of Electricity
|
||||||||||||
Municipalities
and cooperatives
|
$ | 2,569 | $ | 1,913 | 34.3 | % | ||||||
Industries
directly served
|
442 | 392 | 12.8 | % | ||||||||
Federal
agencies and other
|
38 | 25 | 52.0 | % | ||||||||
Other
revenue
|
28 | 30 | (6.7 | %) | ||||||||
Total
|
$ | 3,077 | $ | 2,360 | 30.4 | % |
The
increase in revenue from Municipalities and Cooperatives is primarily due to the
FCA, which provided $426 million in additional revenues. Average base
rates increased 12.6 percent primarily due to base rate increases effective
April 1, 2008, and October 1, 2008, and provided $225 million in additional
revenue. Sales increased 0.3 percent resulting in $5 million of
additional revenue primarily due to favorable weather which increased sales 3.5
percent. This increase was partially offset by a decline in sales
growth of 3.2 percent.
The
increase in revenue from Industries Directly Served is primarily attributable to
the FCA and an increase in average base rates of 9.5 percent, which yielded $50
million and $32 million, respectively, in additional revenue. These
increases were partially offset by a $32 million decline in revenue due to
decreased sales of 8.9 percent.
The
increase in revenue to Federal Agencies and Other was the result of a $12
million increase in revenues from federal agencies directly served due to the
FCA, increased sales of 16.7 percent, and an increase in average base rates of
8.9 percent, which provided $6 million, $4 million, and $2 million in additional
revenues, respectively. Off-system sales provided an additional $1
million in revenue.
Operating Expenses. Operating
expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2008, and 2007, consisted of
the following:
Operating
Expenses
For
the Three Months Ended December 31
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
||||||||||
Fuel
and purchased power
|
$ | 1,383 | $ | 922 | 50.0 | % | ||||||
Operating
and maintenance
|
590 | 580 | 1.7 | % | ||||||||
Depreciation,
amortization, and accretion
|
396 | 390 | 1.5 | % | ||||||||
Tax
equivalents
|
148 | 120 | 23.3 | % | ||||||||
Environmental
clean up costs-Kingston ash spill
|
525 | – | N/A | |||||||||
Total
operating expenses
|
$ | 3,042 | $ | 2,012 | 51.2 | % |
Significant drivers contributing to the
$1,030 million increase in total operating expenses included:
Fuel
and purchased power expense increased $461 million due to:
|
•
|
A
$384 million increase in fuel expense resulting from an increase in the
aggregate fuel cost per kilowatt-hour net thermal generation of 21.7
percent primarily due to higher fuel cost for coal-fired and nuclear
generation, partially offset by decreased costs for natural gas and fuel
oil used for combustion turbine generation. The higher cost of fuel
increased expense by $123 million. Net generation increased slightly, 0.3
percent, which resulted in $2 million of additional
expense. Lastly, the FCA net deferral and amortization for fuel
expense increased expense an additional $259
million.
|
|
•
|
A
$77 million increase in purchased power expense resulting from an increase
in the average purchase price of 5.0 percent, which resulted in $11
million in additional expense. The FCA net deferral and amortization for
purchased power expense increased expense $98 million and TVA also
experienced an increase in realized losses related to natural gas
derivatives which added an additional $63 million in
expense. These increases in purchased power expense were
partially offset by a decrease in the volume of purchased power of 30.1
percent, which resulted in a decrease of $95 million in expense. The
decrease in volume of purchased power was primarily due to an increase in
hydro-generation compared to the first quarter of 2008, which allowed TVA
to purchase less power to meet
demand.
|
Operating
and maintenance expense increased $10 million due to:
|
•
|
Costs
for reagents increased $9 million largely due to increased volume as a
result of additional selective catalytic reduction (“SCR”) capacity online
in the first quarter of 2009;
|
• Routine
operating and maintenance costs for river operations increased $5
million;
|
•
|
Workers’
compensation expense increased $5 million primarily due to an increase in
costs to administer the program;
and
|
|
•
|
The
FCA net deferral and amortization increased $5 million for operating and
maintenance expense.
|
These increases were partially offset by decreased outage and routine operating and maintenance costs of $20 million at coal-fired and combustion turbine plants largely due to a decrease in outage days of 335 days as a result of 5 less planned outages and a change in the nature and scope of the outages during the first quarter of 2009. TVA also performed significant repair work on Unit 3 at Paradise Fossil Plant in the first quarter of 2008 that did not reoccur in the first quarter of 2009.
Depreciation,
amortization, and accretion expense increased $6 million primarily attributable
to an increase in net plant additions.
Tax equivalent payments increased $28
million reflecting increased gross revenues from the sale of power (excluding
sales or deliveries to other federal agencies and off-system sales with other
utilities) during 2008 compared to 2007. Tax equivalent payments are
based on prior year’s electricity sales.
Environmental clean up cost – Kingston
ash spill expenses recognized at December 31, 2008 were $525
million. (See Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations — Executive Summary — Kingston Fossil Plant for
details.)
Other (Expense) Income,
Net. The $12 million change in Other (expense) income, net was
largely due to an increase in realized and unrealized losses on TVA’s
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan funds and restricted investments related
to the collateral held by TVA. TVA also received a payment in
connection with a False Claims Act suit in the first quarter of 2008 not present
in the first quarter of 2009.
Interest
Expense. Interest expense and interest rates for the three
months ended December 31, 2008, and 2007, consisted of the
following:
Interest
Expense
For
the Three Months Ended December 31
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
||||||||||
Interest
on debt and leaseback obligations
|
$ | 334 | $ | 341 | (2.1 | %) | ||||||
Amortization
of debt discount, issue, and reacquisition costs, net
|
5 | 5 | 0.0 | % | ||||||||
Allowance
for funds used during construction and nuclear fuel
expenditures
|
(8 | ) | (3 | ) | 166.7 | % | ||||||
Net
interest expense
|
$ | 331 | $ | 343 | (3.5 | %) | ||||||
(percent)
|
||||||||||||
2008
|
2007
|
Percent
Change
|
||||||||||
Interest
rates (average)
|
||||||||||||
Long-term
|
5.95 | 5.96 | (0.2 | %) | ||||||||
Discount
notes
|
0.75 | 4.59 | (83.7 | %) | ||||||||
Blended
|
5.48 | 5.87 | (6.6 | %) |
Significant items contributing to the
$12 million decrease in net interest expense included a $5 million increase in
an allowance for funds used during construction (“AFUDC”) and nuclear fuel
expenditures primarily due to an increase in the construction work in progress
base used to calculate AFUDC in 2009. Interest on debt decreased $7
million primarily due to a significant decrease in the average discount notes
interest rate from 4.59 percent during the first quarter of 2008 to 0.75 percent
during the same period in 2009. The decrease in short-term interest
was partially offset by a $415 million increase in the average balance of
long-term-outstanding debt in the first quarter of 2009.
In February 1997, TVA entered into a
purchase power agreement with Choctaw Generation, Inc. (“Choctaw”), subsequently
assigned to Choctaw Generation Limited Partnership, to purchase all the power
generated from its facility located in Choctaw County,
Mississippi. The facility had a committed capacity of 440 megawatts
and the term of the agreement was 30 years. Under the accounting
guidance provided by Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”)
Interpretation No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest
Entities,” as amended by FASB Interpretation No. 46R (as amended, “FIN
No. 46R”), TVA believes its contractual interest is a variable interest that
changes with changes in the fair value of the net assets of Choctaw because the
purchase power agreement provides substantially all of Choctaw’s operating cash
flow. TVA believes that Choctaw qualifies as a variable
interest entity
because
the entity is designed (or redesigned) so that substantially all of its
activities either involve or are conducted on behalf of
TVA. Furthermore, Choctaw lacks the obligation to absorb its expected
losses because of the effective guaranteed return provided by TVA through the
30-year purchase power agreement. TVA may be deemed to be the primary
beneficiary under the contract; however, TVA does not have access to the
financial records of Choctaw. As a result, TVA was unable to
determine whether FIN No. 46R would require TVA to consolidate Choctaw’s balance
sheet, results of operations, and cash flows for the quarter ended December 31,
2008. Because of the lack of financial information, TVA is unable to
obtain complete information regarding debt, equity, and other contractual
interests in Choctaw. As of December 31, 2008, Choctaw had issued
senior secured bonds of $236 million and $95 million due in June 2030 and June
2023, respectively. Choctaw’s credit ratings as issued by Standard
and Poor’s and Moody’s were BB with a negative outlook and Ba2,
respectively. TVA has no direct debt or equity investment in
Choctaw. The purchase power agreement is accounted for based on the
normal purchases and normal sales exemption of SFAS No. 133, “Accounting for Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities” therefore, no amounts are recorded
in TVA’s financial statements with respect to TVA’s variable
interest. Power purchases for the quarter under the agreement
amounted to $18 million, and the remaining financial commitment under this
agreement is $6.7 billion. TVA has no additional financial
commitments with respect to the facility beyond the purchase power
agreement.
The terms of the purchase power
agreement specify that Choctaw must reimburse TVA for any additional costs
incurred due to Choctaw’s failure to deliver power as specified under the
contract. TVA is the beneficiary of a third-party credit enhancement
in the form of a $5 million letter of credit with a financial
institution. Under the terms of the letter of credit, TVA may draw
any amount necessary, up to $5 million, to reimburse any incremental costs
incurred due to Choctaw’s failure to perform under the
contract. Also, Choctaw must replenish the letter of credit in full
within 20 days or TVA is relieved of its obligations under the purchase power
agreement. Because of the terms of the letter of credit arrangement
and TVA’s experience with Choctaw, TVA does not believe that any material
exposure to loss existed as of December 31, 2008. TVA also believes
that in addition to the explicit variable interest in Choctaw through the
purchase power agreement, TVA may have an implicit variable interest in Choctaw
due to the purchase power agreement being viewed as a credit enhancement to
secured creditors and bondholders. TVA does not believe that it has
any additional exposure with respect to this potential implicit variable
interest. Also, because the purchase power agreement grants TVA the
right, but not the obligation, to purchase power, TVA does not believe that its
maximum exposure to loss in the arrangement can be quantified due to the
uncertainty of future power demand.
The
preparation of financial statements requires TVA to estimate the effects of
various matters that are inherently uncertain as of the date of the financial
statements. Although the financial statements are prepared in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), management is
required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of
assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and
the amounts of revenues and expenses reported during the reporting
period. Each of these estimates varies in regard to the level of
judgment involved and its potential impact on TVA’s financial
results. Estimates are deemed critical either when a different
estimate could have reasonably been used, or where changes in the estimate are
reasonably likely to occur from period to period, and such use or change would
materially impact TVA’s financial condition, changes in financial position, or
results of operations. TVA’s critical accounting policies are also
discussed in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations–Critical Accounting Policies and
Estimates and Note 2–Summary of Significant Accounting
Policies in the Annual Report.
TVA power rates are not subject to
regulation through a public service commission or other similar
entity. TVA’s Board is authorized by the TVA Act to set rates for
power sold to its customers. This rate-setting authority meets the
“self-regulated” provisions of SFAS No. 71, “Accounting for the Effects of
Certain Types of Regulation” (“SFAS No. 71”). TVA meets the remaining
criteria of SFAS No. 71 because (1) TVA’s regulated rates are designed to
recover its costs of providing electricity and (2) in view of demand for
electricity and the level of competition, it is reasonable to assume that the
rates, set at levels that will recover TVA’s costs, can be charged and
collected. Accordingly, TVA records certain assets and liabilities
that result from the regulated ratemaking process that would not be recorded
under GAAP for non-regulated entities. Regulatory assets generally
represent incurred costs that have been deferred because such costs are probable
of future recovery in customer rates. Regulatory liabilities
generally represent obligations to make refunds to customers for previous
collections for costs that are not likely to be incurred. Management
assesses whether the regulatory assets are probable of future recovery by
considering factors such as applicable regulatory changes, potential
legislation, and changes in technology. Based on
these
assessments,
management believes the existing regulatory assets are probable of
recovery. This determination reflects the current regulatory and
political environment and is subject to change in the future. If
future recovery of regulatory assets ceases to be probable, TVA would be
required to write off these costs under the provisions of SFAS No. 101, “Regulated Enterprises– Accounting
for the Discontinuation of Application of FASB Statement No.
71.” Any asset write-offs would be required to be recognized
in earnings in the period in which future recoveries cease to be
probable.
In August 2008, the TVA Board approved
the following change in ratemaking, which resulted in a change in accounting for
the type of transaction described below.
The TVA Board approved deferring costs
related to the future closure and retirement of TVA's non-nuclear long-lived
assets under various legal requirements as recognized by SFAS No. 143 and FIN
No. 47. These costs had previously been included in rates as the asset
retirement obligation (“ARO”) was accreted and the asset was depreciated. In
accordance with EITF 93-4, these costs did not previously meet the asset
recognition criteria in paragraph nine of SFAS No. 71 at the date the costs were
incurred. Because of the establishment of the asset retirement trust (“ART”) and
the approval of the funding in 2009 rates as part of the TVA Board’s budget and
ratemaking process, these costs currently meet asset recognition criteria.
Therefore, all cumulative costs incurred since 2003, when SFAS No. 143 was
adopted, were recaptured as a regulatory asset as of September 30, 2008. The
regulatory asset initially created related to this adjustment totaled $350
million. The offset to this adjustment was a one-time decrease to depreciation,
amortization, and accretion expense. See Note 2 — Asset Retirement
Obligations.
Securities Held as
Trading. TVA’s investments classified as trading consist of
amounts held in the NDT, the ART, and the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan
(“SERP”). These assets are generally measured at fair value based on
quoted market prices or other observable market data such as interest rate
indices. TVA's investments are primarily U.S. equities, international equities,
real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), fixed income, high-yield fixed income,
U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities, commodities, currencies,
derivative instruments, and other investments. Commingled funds are used to gain
exposure to certain investments. TVA has classified all of these investments as
either Level 1 or Level 2 valuations. The adoption of SFAS No. 157
resulted in a decrease of $4 million in the fair value of NDT assets due to the
application of credit valuation adjustments (“CVAs”) but did not materially
impact the fair value of ART or SERP assets.
Vendor-provided
prices are subjected to automated tolerance checks by TVA to identify and avoid,
where possible, the use of inaccurate prices. Any questionable prices
identified are reported to the vendor which provided the price. If
the prices are validated, the primary pricing source is used. If not, a
secondary source price which has passed the applicable tolerance check is used
(or queried with the vendor if it is out of tolerance), resulting in either the
use of a secondary price, where validated, or the last reported default price,
as in the case of a missing price. For monthly valued accounts, where
secondary price sources are available, an automated inter-source tolerance
report identifies prices with an inter-vendor pricing variance of over two
percent at an asset class level. For daily valued accounts, each
security is assigned, where possible, an indicative major market index, against
which daily price movements are automatically compared. Tolerance thresholds are
established by asset class. Prices found to be outside of the applicable
tolerance threshold are reported and queried with vendors as described
above.
Derivatives. TVA is currently
a party to the following types of derivatives:
|
•
|
Commodity
contracts to purchase coal with volume
options
|
|
•
|
Commodity
swaps, futures, and options on
futures
|
|
•
|
Currency
swaps
|
|
•
|
Interest
rate swaps
|
|
•
|
Swaption
|
Commodity
contracts to purchase coal with volume options are classified as Level 3
valuations. Commodity swaps, futures, and options on futures are
classified as Level 1 and Level 2 valuations. Currency swaps and
interest rate swaps are classified as Level 2
valuations. The swaption is classified as a Level 3
valuation.
Commodity Contracts to Purchase Coal
with Volume Options. The fair value of this derivative
portfolio is valued using internal models. The significant inputs to
these models are price indications such as quoted spot prices and implied
forward prices. The pricing model is based on significant
unobservable inputs, similar products or products priced in different time
periods. TVA designs price curves and valuation models based on the
best available information and industry accepted practices. As a
result, these valuations are classified as Level 3 valuations. The
adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $60 million decrease in the fair value of
commodity contracts in an asset position and a $1 million decrease in the fair
value of commodity contracts in a liability position due to the application of
CVAs to these contracts.
Commodity Swaps, Futures, and
Options on Futures. TVA uses quoted New York Mercantile
Exchange (“NYMEX”) prices in its determination of the fair value of these
contracts. Contracts settled on the NYMEX are classified as Level 1
valuations. These are primarily natural gas futures and option
contracts. Contracts where nonperformance risk exists outside of the exit price
are measured with the incorporation of CVAs and are classified as Level 2
valuations. These are primarily natural gas swap
contracts. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $2 million
decrease in the fair value of the commodity swaps in a liability position due to
the application of CVAs.
TVA
maintains policies and procedures to value commodity contracts using the best
and most relevant data available. In addition, TVA uses risk management teams
that review valuations and pricing data. TVA retains independent pricing vendors
to assist in valuing certain instruments without market liquidity.
Currency Swaps, Interest Rate Swaps,
and Swaption. TVA has three cross-currency swaps, three “fixed
for floating” interest rate swaps, and one swaption. The currency
swaps and interest rate swaps are classified as Level 2 valuations as the rate
curves and interest rates affecting the fair value of the contracts are based on
observable data. While most of the fair value measurement is based on
observable inputs, the swaption is classified as a Level 3 valuation as a
significant input is unobservable. The adoption of SFAS No. 157
resulted in a $4 million decrease in the fair value of the currency swaps, an $8
million decrease in the fair value of the interest rate swaps, and a $9 million
decrease in the fair value of the swaption due to the application of
CVAs.
Fair Value
Considerations. In determining the fair value of its financial
instruments, TVA considers the source of observable market data inputs,
liquidity of the instrument, credit risk, and risk of nonperformance of itself
or the counterparty to the contract. The conditions and criteria used to assess
these factors are described below:
Sources of Market Assumptions.
TVA derives its financial instrument market assumptions from market
data sources (e.g., Bloomberg, Reuters). In some cases, where market data
is not readily available, management uses comparable market sources and
empirical evidence to derive market assumptions and determine a financial
instrument's fair value.
Market
Liquidity. Market liquidity is assessed by TVA based on
criteria as to whether the financial instrument participates in an active or
inactive market. An active market can be defined as a spot market/ settlement
mechanism environment and also a potential forward/futures market that is based
on the activity in the forward/futures market. A financial instrument is
considered to be in an active market if the prices are fully transparent to the
market participants, the prices can be measured by market bid and ask quotes,
the market has a relatively large proportion of trading volume as compared to
TVA's current trading volume, and the market has a significant number of market
participants that will allow the market to rapidly absorb the quantity of the
assets traded without significantly affecting the market price. Other factors
TVA considers when determining whether a market is active or inactive include
the presence of government or regulatory control over pricing that could make it
difficult to establish a market based price upon entering into a
transaction.
Nonperformance
Risk. The impact of nonperformance risk, which includes
credit risk, considers changes in current market conditions, readily available
information on nonperformance risk, letters of credit, collateral, other
arrangements available, and the nature of master netting arrangements. TVA is a
counterparty to currency swaps, interest rate swaps, a swaption, commodity
contracts, and other derivatives which subject TVA to nonperformance risk.
Nonperformance risk on the majority of investments and certain exchange traded
instruments held by TVA is incorporated into the exit price that is derived from
quoted market data that is used to mark the investment to market.
Nonperformance
risk for most of TVA’s derivative instruments is an adjustment to the initial
asset/liability fair value. TVA adjusts for nonperformance
risk by deducting a CVA that calculates counterparty risk. For
derivative instruments of a relatively short-term nature (generally less than
five years), the CVA is calculated based on composite credit spreads over U.S.
Treasury yields for either identical companies or companies with a similar bond
rating (as determined by S&P ratings or, when unavailable, TVA’s internal
analysis) as obtained from widely-used services (e.g., Standards and Poor’s,
Bloomberg). For TVA’s currency swaps, interest rate swaps, and
swaption, the remaining terms of the instruments range from 12 to 35
years. The CVA for these liabilities is calculated based on the
historical default rate for companies with TVA’s senior unsecured long-term bond
ratings over the remaining term as obtained by widely used ratings services
(e.g., Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service).
All
derivative instruments are analyzed individually and are subject to unique risk
exposures. The aggregate counterparty credit risk adjustments applied to TVA's
derivative asset position was a $64 million decrease for the three months ended
December 31, 2008. The aggregate credit risk adjustments applied to TVA's
derivative liability position was a $24 million decrease for the three months
ended December 31, 2008. Credit risk and counterparty credit risk
adjustments on all derivative contracts except for currency swaps are charged to
regulatory assets (liabilities) until the contracts are settled. The
credit risk and counterparty credit risk adjustments related to the currency
swaps are charged to Other comprehensive loss to the extent that the cash flow
hedge is considered effective, and any remaining amount is charged to regulatory
assets (liabilities) until the contracts are settled.
Collateral. TVA is
a counterparty under a swaption contract granting the other counterparty the
right to enter into a swap agreement with TVA. Under the terms of the
contract, TVA is required to post collateral if its position in the contract
exceeds $500 million of exposure. As of December 31, 2008, TVA had
posted $455 million with a custodian as collateral under the
arrangement. TVA’s assessment of the risk of its non-performance
includes a reduction in its exposure under the contract as a result of this
posted collateral.
Level 3
Information. Unrealized gains (losses) on contracts classified
as Level 3 valuations are included in regulatory assets (liabilities) until the
contracts are settled. TVA experienced significant unrealized losses
on commodity contracts with volume options to purchase coal due to significant
declines in coal market prices during the quarter ended December 31,
2008. TVA also experienced unrealized losses on the swaption
liability due to decreases in interest rates during the
quarter. Unrealized gains (losses) on these instruments did not have
a material effect on liquidity or capital resources. There were no
realized gains (losses) on commodity contracts to purchase coal with volume
options or the swaption during the three months ended December 31,
2008. Level 3 valuations represent 37 percent of total assets
measured at fair value and 51 percent of total liabilities measured at fair
value.
The following accounting standards
and interpretations became effective for TVA during 2009.
Fair Value
Measurements. In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157,
“Fair Value Measurements
(“SFAS No. 157”). SFAS No. 157 provides guidance for
using fair value to measure assets and liabilities that currently require fair
value measurement. SFAS No. 157 also responds to investors’ requests
for expanded information about the extent to which companies measure assets and
liabilities at fair value, the information used to measure fair value, and the
effect of fair value measurements on earnings. SFAS No. 157 applies
whenever other standards require (or permit) assets or liabilities to be
measured at fair value but does not expand the use of fair value in any new
circumstances. SFAS No. 157 establishes a fair value hierarchy that
prioritizes the information used to develop measurement
assumptions. SFAS No. 157 became effective for TVA on October 1,
2008. The adoption of SFAS No. 157 resulted in a $64 million decrease
in the fair value of assets and a $24 million decrease in the fair value of
liabilities. All such decreases were reflected as changes in
regulatory assets, regulatory liabilities, and accumulated other comprehensive
income.
In February 2008, FASB issued FASB
Staff Position (“FSP”) FAS No. 157-2, "Effective Date of FASB Statement
No. 157” (“FSP FAS No. 157-2”), which delays the effective date of SFAS
No. 157 for
nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities except for items that are
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring
basis. This FSP delays the effective date of SFAS No. 157 to fiscal
years beginning after November 15, 2008, and interim periods within those fiscal
years for items within the scope of this FSP. TVA has utilized the
deferral portion of FSP FAS No. 157-2 for all nonfinancial assets and
liabilities within its scope and is currently evaluating the future related
impact.
In
October 2008, FASB issued FSP FAS No.157-3, “Determining the Fair Value of a
Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset Is Not Active” ("FSP FAS
No.157-3"). FSP FAS No.157-3 clarifies the application of SFAS No.
157 in a market that is not active. The guidance emphasizes that
determining fair value in an inactive market depends on the facts and
circumstances and may require the use of significant judgment. FSP
FAS No. 157-3 was effective upon issuance, including prior periods for which
financial statements have not been issued, and became effective for TVA upon its
implementation of SFAS No. 157 on October 1, 2008. The adoption of
FSP FAS No. 157-3 did not materially impact TVA’s financial condition, results
of operations, or cash flows.
Fair Value Option.
In February 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial
Assets and Financial Liabilities — Including an amendment of FASB Statement No.
115” (“SFAS No. 159”).
This statement permits an entity to choose to measure many financial
instruments and certain other items at fair value. The fair value
option established by SFAS No.159 permits all entities to choose to measure
eligible items at fair value at specified election dates. A business
entity will report unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value
option has been elected in earnings at each subsequent reporting
date. Most of the provisions in SFAS No. 159 are elective. The
provisions of SFAS No. 159 are effective as of the beginning of an entity’s
first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. SFAS No. 159
became effective for TVA on October 1, 2008. As allowed by the
standard, TVA did not elect the fair value option for the measurement of any
eligible assets or liabilities. The adoption of SFAS No. 159 did not materially
impact TVA’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash
flows.
Offsetting
Amounts. On April 30, 2007, FASB issued FSP FIN No. 39-1, “Amendment of FASB Interpretation
No. 39,” which addresses certain modifications to FIN No. 39, “Offsetting of Amounts Related to
Certain Contracts.” This FSP replaces the terms “conditional contracts”
and “exchange contracts” with the term “derivative instruments” as defined in
SFAS No. 133. The FSP also
permits a reporting entity to offset fair value amounts recognized for the right
to reclaim cash collateral (a receivable) or the obligation to return cash
collateral (a payable) against fair value amounts recognized for derivative
instruments executed with the same counterparty under the same master netting
arrangement. The guidance in this FSP became effective for TVA as of
October 1, 2008. The adoption of this FSP did not materially impact
TVA’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.
Disclosures by Public
Entities (Enterprises) about Transfers of Financial Assets and Interests in
Variable Interests Entities. In December 2008, FASB issued FSP
FAS No. 140-4 and FIN No. 46(R)-8, “Disclosures by Public Entities
(Enterprises) about Transfers of Financial Assets and Interests in Variable
Interests Entities.” This FSP requires public entities to provide
additional disclosures about transfers of financial assets. It also
amends FASB Interpretation No. 46 (revised December 2003), “Consolidation of Variable Interest
Entities,” to require public enterprises, including sponsors
that have a variable interest in a variable interest entity, to provide
additional disclosures about their involvement with variable interest
entities. Additionally, this FSP requires certain disclosures to be
provided by a public enterprise that is (1) the sponsor of a qualifying special
purpose entity (“SPE”) that holds a variable interest in the qualifying SPE but
was not the transferor (“nontransferor”) of financial assets to the qualifying
SPE and (2) a servicer of a qualifying SPE that holds a significant variable
interest in the qualifying SPE but was not the transferor (nontransferor) of
financial assets to the qualifying SPE. The disclosures required by
this FSP are intended to provide greater transparency to financial statement
users about a transferor’s continuing involvement with transferred financial
assets and an enterprise’s involvement with variable interest entities and
qualifying SPEs. This FSP is effective for the first reporting period
(interim or annual) ending after December 15, 2008, with earlier application
encouraged. TVA adopted the disclosure provisions of this FSP during
the first quarter of 2009.
Employers’ Disclosures about
Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets. On December 30, 2008,
FASB issued FSP No.132(R)-1, “Employers’ Disclosures about
Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets,” to require that an employer disclose
the following information about the plan assets: 1) information regarding how
investment allocation decisions are made; 2) the major categories of plan
assets; 3) information about the inputs and valuation techniques used to measure
fair value of the plan assets; 4) the effect of fair value measurements using
significant unobservable inputs on changes in plan assets for the period; and 5)
significant concentrations of risk within plan assets. This FSP also
includes a technical amendment to require the disclosure of net periodic benefit
cost recognized. This technical amendment was effective upon issuance
and TVA adopted this portion of this FSP during the first quarter of
2009. The remaining portions of this FSP will be effective for fiscal
years ending after December 15, 2009, with early application permitted. At
initial adoption, application of the remaining portions of this FSP would not be
required for earlier periods that are presented for comparative
purposes. TVA is currently evaluating the potential impact of
adopting the remaining portions of this FSP on its disclosures in the financial
statements.
The following accounting standards have
been issued, but as of December, 31, 2008, are not yet effective and have not
been adopted by TVA.
Business
Combinations. In December 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 141R,
“Business Combinations”
(“SFAS No. 141R”). This statement establishes principles and
requirements for determining how an enterprise recognizes and measures the fair
value of certain assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination,
including non-controlling interests, contingent consideration, and certain
acquired contingencies. SFAS No. 141R also requires
acquisition-related transaction expenses and restructuring costs to be expensed
as incurred rather than capitalized as a component of the business
combination. The provisions of SFAS No. 141R are effective as of the
beginning of an entity’s first fiscal year that begins on or after December 15,
2008. Early adoption is prohibited. SFAS No. 141R will
become effective for TVA as of October 1, 2009. TVA expects that SFAS
No. 141R could have an impact on accounting for any businesses acquired after
the effective date of this pronouncement.
Derivative Instruments and
Hedging Activities. In March 2008, FASB issued SFAS No. 161,
“Disclosures about Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities — an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133”
(“SFAS No. 161”), which establishes, among other things, the disclosure
requirements for derivative instruments and hedging activities. SFAS
No. 161 amends and expands the disclosure requirements of SFAS No. 133. The effective
date of adoption for TVA is the second quarter of 2009. TVA is
currently evaluating the potential impact of adopting SFAS No. 161 on its
disclosures in the financial statements.
Hierarchy of Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles. In May 2008, FASB issued SFAS
No. 162, “The Hierarchy of
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (“SFAS No.
162”). SFAS No. 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles
and the framework for selecting the principles used in the preparation of
financial statements. SFAS No. 162 is effective 60 days following the
SEC’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendments to AU
Section 411, “The Meaning of
Present Fairly in Conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.” The implementation of SFAS No. 162 is not
expected to have a material impact on TVA’s financial position and results of
operations.
Legislative and Regulatory Matters
President’s
Budget
On February 4, 2008, the Office of
Management and Budget (“OMB”) transmitted the President’s proposed 2009 federal
budget to Congress. The proposed budget recommends allowing Congress
to establish the amount of TVA’s Office of Inspector General’s budget and
directing TVA to fund the amount with power revenues beginning in
2009. Funding for TVA’s Office of the Inspector General is currently
established by TVA. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s
(“Committee”) report for the 2009 Energy and Water Development Appropriation
Bill (“Bill”) noted that the Committee did not recommend including this proposal
of the President in the Bill because TVA has funded the requests of the TVA
Inspector General from power revenues and receipts, and the Committee saw no
compelling reason to change the funding mechanism for the TVA Inspector
General.
In October 2008, Congress passed the
Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (“Reform Act”). Section 8 of the
Reform Act addresses the budgets of Inspector Generals. It does not
include the provision recommended in the President’s proposed 2009 budget in
connection with the funding of TVA’s Office of the Inspector
General. It provides an avenue for an Inspector General, including
TVA’s Inspector General, to inform Congress if he or she believes that the
funding included in the President’s budget for that Inspector General’s office
would substantially inhibit the office’s performance.
Proposed
Legislation
On March 13, 2007, Senators Jim Bunning
and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky introduced the Access to Competitive Power Act
of 2007 in the U.S. Senate. Under this bill, TVA and federal power
marketing agencies would be subject to greater FERC jurisdiction with respect to
transmission, including rates, terms, and conditions of service. No
congressional action was taken on this bill prior to adjournment of the 110th
Congress. On October 18, 2007, Senators Joseph Lieberman and John
Warner introduced America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 in the U.S.
Senate. This economy-wide bill would mandate the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions of covered facilities through a cap-and-trade
structure. Covered facilities include those that use more than 5,000
tons of coal per year. Compliance may be met through trading,
banking, borrowing, and offsets. In May 2008, Senators Lieberman and
Warner reintroduced the bill as the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of
2008, S. 3036. On June 6, 2008, the bill failed to obtain enough
votes to overcome a filibuster and to move to final consideration in the U.S.
Senate. No further congressional action was taken on this bill prior
to adjournment of the 110th Congress.
On January 14, 2009, Representative
Nick Rahall from West Virginia introduced a bill (H.R. 493), which would direct
the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations concerning the storage
and disposal of coal ash. This bill draws on the regulatory model for
impoundments that is used for coal slurry management under the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Additional regulatory and
legislative proposals to regulate coal ash ponds are possible.
On
February 4, 2009, Congressman Edward Markey introduced a bill (H.R. 890) to
establish a Federal Renewable Portfolio Standard, under which covered retail
electric utilities would be required to meet a qualifying renewable energy
percentage of 25% by calendar year 2025. As presently drafted, the bill
would apply to TVA with respect to its sales to its directly-served customers
and to the larger distributors of TVA power.
For a
discussion of additional environmental legislation and regulation, see Part I,
Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations – Environmental
Matters.
TVA can control neither what
legislation becomes law nor what regulations are promulgated. Even
legislation or regulations of which TVA has been made aware may be changed in
ways which are difficult to predict or have unforeseen
consequences. TVA cannot therefore predict with certainty or with any
accuracy whether the initiatives discussed above will become law in the future
and in what form, and what their impact would be on TVA. Moreover,
given the nature of the legislative process, it is possible that new legislation
or a change to existing legislation that has a significant impact on TVA’s
activities could become law with little or no advance notice. As a
federal entity, the very nature of TVA can be changed by
legislation. For a discussion of the potential impact of legislation
and regulation on TVA, see Item 1A, Risk Factors in the Annual Report and Part
II, Item 1A, Risk Factors in this Quarterly Report.
Environmental Matters
Air
Quality Control Developments
A federal appeals court on December 23,
2008, temporarily reinstated the EPA’s Clean Air Interstate Rule (“CAIR”) that
would require 28 mostly eastern states – including those where TVA operates - to
reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (“SO2“),
nitrogen oxides (“NOx“) and
particulate matter. The reinstatement will allow EPA to rewrite the
cap-and-trade portion of the rule to fix the flaws, in accordance with the
court’s July decision in North
Carolina v. EPA that vacated the cap-and-trade regulation. The court
declined to set a deadline for EPA to rewrite the rule. As discussed in the
Annual Report, TVA will continue its previously announced emissions reduction
program, including completion of scrubber installations for SO2 control at
Bull Run, Kingston, and John Sevier Fossil Plants, and annual operation of the
21 SCR and other NOx controls
which began in October 2008. These plans were established based on the CAIR
rule.
On December 22, 2008, the EPA
designated areas throughout the U.S. as "non-attainment" and
"unclassifiable/attainment" for the 24-hour national ambient air quality
standard for fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”). Two
hundred eleven counties or parts of counties were designated as non-attainment
based on the recommendations provided by states and tribes, as well as
additional supporting information provided by states, tribes, and the public. In
the Tennessee Valley region, McCracken County and a portion of Muhlenberg County
in Kentucky were designated as non-attainment. TVA operates coal-fired
generating plants in both of these counties. In Tennessee, Montgomery, Knox,
Loudon, Anderson, and Blount counties, as well as portions of Humphreys,
Stewart, and Roane counties around TVA’s generating plants, were also designated
as non-attainment. When final non-attainment designations become effective,
likely in early April 2009, state and local governments will be required to take
steps to control fine particle pollution in non-attainment areas. Those steps
may include stricter controls on industrial facilities including TVA’s
generating plants and additional planning requirements for
transportation-related sources. States must submit their plans to the EPA within
three years after EPA makes final designations or by April 2012. Areas are
required to attain the standard by 2014. EPA may grant attainment date
extensions for up to five additional years in areas with more severe PM2.5 problems
as well as in areas where emission control measures are not available or
feasible.
In December 2008 TVA completed
construction and began operation of the flue gas desulphurization system or
“scrubber” at the Bull Run Fossil Plant (“Bull Run”). Bull Run is a
single-unit plant with a capacity of 870 megawatts located near Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. This state-of-the-art control system removes greater than 90 percent
of the plant’s sulfur dioxide emissions, and is one of the actions required by
the court in its decision in the lawsuit brought by the State of North Carolina
against TVA. See Part I, Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Result of Operations–Legal.
TVA is
subject to various legal proceedings and claims that have arisen in the ordinary
course of business. These proceedings and claims include the matters
discussed below. In accordance with SFAS No. 5, “Accounting for Contingencies,” TVA had
accrued approximately $21 million with respect to the proceedings described
below as of December 31, 2008, as well as approximately $4 million with respect
to other proceedings that have arisen in the normal course of TVA’s
business. No assurance can be given that TVA will not be subject to
significant additional claims and liabilities. If actual liabilities
significantly exceed the estimates made, TVA’s results of operations, liquidity,
and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Legal Proceedings Related to
Kingston Ash Pond Spill – See Note 1.
Significant
Legal Proceedings to Which TVA Is a Party
Case Brought by North
Carolina Alleging Public Nuisance. On January 30, 2006, North
Carolina filed suit against TVA in the United States District Court for the
Western District of North Carolina alleging that TVA’s operation of its
coal-fired power plants in the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky
constitute public nuisances. North Carolina asked the court to impose
caps on emissions of certain pollutants from TVA’s coal-fired plants that North
Carolina considers to be equivalent to caps on emissions imposed by North
Carolina law on North Carolina’s two largest electric utilities. On
January 13, 2009, the court held that emissions from the Bull Run Fossil Plant
(“Bull Run”), the Kingston Fossil Plant (“Kingston”), the John Sevier Fossil
Plant (“John Sevier”), and the Widows Creek Fossil Plant (“Widows Creek”)
constitute a public nuisance. The first three plants are located in
Tennessee, and Widows Creek is located in Alabama. The court declined
to order any relief as to the remainder of TVA’s coal-fired plants, holding that
their emissions did not significantly impact North Carolina.
The court
ordered that:
•
|
The
flue gas desulfurization systems (“scrubbers”) and selective catalytic
reduction systems (“SCRs”) currently operating at Bull Run be properly
maintained and operated
year-round.
|
•
|
The
scrubbers under construction at Kingston be completed by December 31,
2010, and that Kingston’s scrubbers and SCRs be properly maintained and
operated year-round.
|
•
|
Scrubbers
and SCRs be installed and in operation for all four units at John Sevier
by December 31, 2011.
|
•
|
TVA
complete its plan to modernize the two existing scrubbers at Widows Creek,
and install scrubbers and SCRs at Widows Creek Units 1-6 by
December 31, 2013.
|
|
Additionally,
the court required units at the named plants to meet specified
emission rates and annual tonnage caps for NOx and
SO2
after the applicable operation dates for the scrubbers. Finally, the court
required TVA’s Chief Executive Officer to make semi-annual reports to the court
of TVA’s progress in complying with the order, beginning in July
2009.
TVA was
already in the process of performing or planning to perform some of the actions
ordered by the court. For example, the court’s instructions with
respect to Bull Run and Kingston are consistent with TVA’s current operating
procedures and construction schedule, and the modernization of the two existing
Widows Creek scrubbers is nearly complete. The court’s order will
require TVA to accelerate its schedule in some cases, such as by adding
scrubbers and SCRs at John Sevier by 2011, when the current schedule calls for
completing the scrubbers in mid-2012 and completing the SCRs by
2015. TVA could also be required to take additional measures not
currently planned or scheduled in order to comply with the court’s
order. Advancing the construction schedule or taking additional
actions could increase TVA’s expenses or cause TVA to change the way it operates
these facilities.
TVA
currently estimates that the total cost of taking all of the actions required by
the court would be approximately $1.8 billion through 2014. Of this
amount, TVA was already planning to spend approximately $0.8 billion before the
court issued its order. There could be other cost impacts, including
fuel, variable operation and maintenance (“O&M”), and fixed O&M, and
those costs are under evaluation.
On
January 28, 2009, TVA asked the court to clarify one aspect of its order dealing
with the schedule at John Sevier. TVA is currently reviewing the
decision and considering other options.
Case Involving Alleged
Violations of the New Source Review Regulations at Bull Run Fossil
Plant. The National Parks Conservation Association, Inc.
(“NPCA”), and the Sierra Club, Inc. (“Sierra Club”) filed suit against TVA on
February 13, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Tennessee, alleging that TVA did not comply with the new source review
(“NSR”) requirements of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) when TVA repaired Bull Run, a
coal-fired electric generating facility located in Anderson County,
Tennessee. Trial was scheduled for September 2, 2008, but the trial
was postponed, and the district court instead heard oral arguments on the
parties’ motions for summary judgment on that date. The trial has not
yet been rescheduled. TVA is already installing or has installed the
control equipment that the plaintiffs seek to require TVA to install in this
case, and it is unlikely that an adverse decision will result in substantial
additional costs to TVA at Bull Run. An adverse decision, however,
could lead to additional litigation and could cause TVA to install additional
emission control systems such as scrubbers and SCRs on units where they are not
currently installed, under construction, or planned to be
installed. It is uncertain whether there would be significant
increased costs to TVA.
Case Involving Opacity at
Colbert Fossil Plant. On September 16, 2002, the Sierra Club
and the Alabama Environmental Council filed a lawsuit in the United States
District Court for the Northern District of Alabama alleging that TVA violated
CAA opacity limits applicable to Colbert Fossil Plant (“Colbert”) between July
1, 1997, and June 30, 2002. The plaintiffs seek a court order that could require
TVA to incur substantial additional costs for environmental controls and pay
civil penalties of up to approximately $250 million. The district court
dismissed the complaint, finding that the challenged emissions were within
Alabama’s two percent de minimis rule, which provided a safe harbor if nonexempt
opacity monitor readings over 20 percent did not occur more than two percent of
the time each quarter. On November 22, 2005, the United States Court
of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (“Eleventh Circuit”) affirmed the district
court’s dismissal of the claims for civil penalties but held that the Alabama de
minimis rule was not applicable because Alabama had not yet obtained
Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approval of that rule. The
case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings. The
district court held that TVA had exceeded the 20 percent opacity limit (measured
in six-minute intervals) at various times between January 3, 2000, and September
30, 2002. EPA has since approved the rule, which is being challenged
in separate litigation before the Eleventh Circuit. On January 6,
2009, the district court dismissed the case, finding that the plaintiffs had not
established that a permanent injunction against TVA was justified, and that the
case was moot.
Case Involving AREVA Fuel
Fabrication. On April 19, 2007, AREVA filed suit in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleging that a
contract with TVA and AREVA’s predecessor required TVA to purchase certain
amounts of fuel fabrication services for TVA’s Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and/or
to pay a cancellation fee. AREVA subsequently claimed it was entitled
to $48 million. Trial on the question of liability was scheduled to
begin on September 22, 2008, but has been reset for April 20, 2009. A
second trial on the question of damages will be held later, if
necessary. TVA and AREVA have negotiated the terms of a settlement
agreement. The proposed settlement is subject to approval by the TVA
Board and is currently scheduled to be considered at the TVA Board’s next public
meeting.
Case Involving the General
Waste Products Sites. In July 2008, a third-party complaint
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(“CERCLA”) was filed against TVA in the District Court for the Southern District
of Indiana, alleging that TVA, and several other defendants, disposed of
hazardous materials at the General Waste Products sites in Evansville,
Indiana. TVA was named in the complaint based on allegations that TVA
arranged for the disposal of contaminated materials at the sites. The
other third-party defendants are General Waste Products, General Electric
Company, Indianapolis Power and Light, National Tire and Battery, Old Ben Coal
Co., Solar Sources Inc., Whirlpool, White County Coal, PSI, Tell City Electric
Department, Frontier Kemper, Speed Queen, Allan Trockman (the former operator of
the site), and the City of Evansville. This action was brought by the
Evansville Greenway PRP Group, a group of entities who are currently being sued
in the underlying case for disposing of hazardous materials at the sites, in
order to require the third-party defendants to contribute to, or pay for, the
remediation of the sites. The complaint also includes a claim under
state law against the defendants for the release of hazardous
materials. While the complaint does not specify the exact types of
hazardous substances at issue, a subpoena sent to TVA in 2003 by the owner of
the sites reflects that the primary issues involved lead from batteries and PCBs
from transformers. TVA has found no records indicating that it
arranged for disposal of these types of hazardous substances at the
sites.
Global Warming Cases,
Southern District of New York. On July 21, 2004, two lawsuits
were filed against TVA in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York alleging that global warming is a public nuisance and that
carbon dioxide (“CO2 “)
emissions from fossil-fuel electric generating facilities should be ordered
abated because they contribute to causing the nuisance. The first
case was filed by various states (California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New
York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin) and the City of New York against TVA
and other power companies. The second case, which alleges both public
and private nuisance, was filed against the same defendants by Open Space
Institute, Inc., Open Space Conservancy, Inc., and the Audubon Society of New
Hampshire. The plaintiffs do not seek monetary damages, but instead
seek a court order requiring
each
defendant to cap its CO2 emissions
and then reduce these emissions by an unspecified percentage each year for at
least a decade. In September 2005, the district court dismissed both
lawsuits because they raised political questions that should not be decided by
the courts. The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”). Oral argument was
held before the Second Circuit on June 7, 2006. On June 21, 2007, the
Second Circuit directed the parties to submit letter briefs by July 6, 2007,
addressing the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, 127
S.Ct. 1438 (2007), on the issues raised by the parties. On July 6,
2007, the defendants jointly submitted their letter brief. The Second
Circuit has yet to issue its decision.
Case Arising out of
Hurricane Katrina. In April 2006, TVA was added as a defendant
to a class action lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Mississippi by 14 residents of Mississippi allegedly
injured by Hurricane Katrina. The plaintiffs sued seven large oil
companies and an oil company trade association, three large chemical companies
and a chemical trade association, and 31 large companies involved in the mining
and/or burning of coal, including TVA and other utilities. The
plaintiffs allege that the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions contributed to
global warming and were a proximate and direct cause of Hurricane Katrina’s
increased destructive force. The plaintiffs are seeking monetary
damages among other relief. TVA has moved to dismiss the complaint on
grounds that TVA’s operation of its coal-fired plants is not subject to tort
liability due to the discretionary function doctrine. The district
court dismissed the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked
standing. The plaintiffs appealed the dismissal to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and an oral argument was held before a
three judge panel during the week of November 3, 2008.
Paradise Fossil Plant Clean
Air Act Permit. On December 21, 2007, the Sierra Club, the
Center for Biological Diversity, Kentucky Heartwood, and Hilary Lambert filed a
petition with EPA raising objections to the conditions of TVA’s current CAA
permit at the Paradise Fossil Plant (“Paradise”). Among other things,
the petitioners allege that activities at Paradise triggered the NSR
requirements for NOx and that
the monitoring of opacity at Units 1 and 2 of the plant is
deficient. The current permit continues to remain in
effect. It is unclear whether or how the plant’s permit might be
modified as a result of this proceeding.
Notice of Violation at
Widows Creek Unit 7. On July 16, 2007, TVA received a Notice
of Violation (“NOV”) from EPA as a result of TVA’s failure to properly maintain
ductwork at Widows Creek Unit 7. From 2002 to 2005, the unit’s ducts
allowed SO2 to escape
into the air, but TVA repaired the ductwork in 2005. While the NOV
does not set out an administrative penalty, it is likely that TVA will face a
monetary sanction through giving up emission allowances, paying an
administrative penalty, or both. TVA and the State of Alabama entered
into an agreed order in which TVA agreed to pay the state
$100,000. TVA is unable to estimate the amount of potential monetary
sanctions from EPA for which TVA may be liable in connection with the
NOV.
Administrative Proceeding
Regarding Bellefonte Nuclear Plant Units 3 and 4. TVA
submitted its combined license application (“COLA”) to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (“NRC”) for Bellefonte Nuclear Plant (“Bellefonte”) Units 3 and 4 in
October 2007. If approved, the license to build and operate the plant
would be issued to TVA. Obtaining the necessary license would give
TVA more certainty about the cost and schedule of a nuclear option for future
decisions. The COLA for two AP1000 reactors at Bellefonte was
docketed by the NRC on January 18, 2008, indicating the NRC found it complete
and technically sufficient to support the NRC’s more detailed
reviews.
On June 6, 2008, a joint petition for
intervention and a request for a hearing was submitted to the NRC by the
Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, the Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. The
petition raised 19 potential contentions with respect to TVA’s
COLA. Both TVA and the NRC staff opposed the admission of the
petitioners’ proposed contentions, and, as a result, the admission of the
petitioners as parties to the proceeding. Additionally, TVA opposed
the admission of one of the petitioners to the proceeding on the grounds that it
lacked standing. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board presiding over
the proceeding subsequently denied standing to one of the petitioners and
accepted four of the 19 contentions submitted by the remaining two
petitioners. A hearing on these admitted contentions will be
conducted in the future. The admitted contentions involved questions
about the estimated costs of the new nuclear plant, the storage of low-level
radioactive waste, and the impact of the facility’s operations, in particular
the plant intake, on aquatic species. Other COLA applicants have
received similar petitions raising similar potential contentions.
The TVA Board has not made a decision
to construct a new plant at the Bellefonte site, and TVA continues to evaluate
all nuclear generation options at the site.
Information Request from
EPA. On April 25, 2008, TVA received a request from EPA under
section 114 of the CAA requesting extensive information about projects at and
the operations of 14 of TVA’s 59 coal-fired units. These 14 units are
located in the States of Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This request
for information is similar to but broader than section 114 requests that
other companies have received during EPA’s NSR enforcement initiative. TVA
has responded to this request. EPA’s request could be the first step
in an administrative proceeding against TVA that could then result in litigation
in the courts.
Notification of Potential
Liability for Ward Transformer Site. The Ward Transformer site
in Raleigh, North Carolina, is contaminated by PCBs from electrical
equipment. EPA and a working group of potentially responsible parties
(the “PRP Work Group”) have provided documentation showing that TVA sent a
limited amount of electrical equipment containing PCBs to the site in
1974. The PRP Work Group is cleaning up on-site contamination in
accordance with an agreement with EPA. The cleanup effort has been
divided into four areas: two phases of soil cleanup; cleanup of
off-site contamination in the downstream drainage basis; and supplemental
groundwater remediation. The first phase of soil cleanup is underway,
and the high-end cost estimate for this work is about $66
million. There are no reliable estimates for the second phase of soil
and cleanup or the supplemental groundwater remediation, although EPA has
selected a cleanup plan for the downstream drainage basin with a present worth
cost estimate of $6 million. TVA understands that EPA has incurred
approximately $3 million in past response costs, and the PRP Work Group has
reimbursed EPA approximately $725,000 of those costs. The PRP Work
Group plans to propose a cost allocation schedule which it will use as the basis
for offering settlements to PRPs for the first phase of soil
cleanup. It plans to sue PRPs who do not settle. There
also may be natural resource damages liability at this site, but TVA is not
aware of any estimated amount for any such damages. TVA has a
potential defense that it only sent useful equipment to Ward and thus is not
liable for arranging for disposal of a hazardous substance at the
site.
Completion of Browns Ferry
Unit 1, Team Incentive Fee Pool Claims. Under the contracts
for the restart of TVA’s Browns Ferry Unit 1, TVA and the engineering and
construction contractors, Bechtel Power Corporation (“Bechtel”) and Stone &
Webster Construction, Inc. (“Stone and Webster”), respectively, are to share in
a team incentive fee pool funded from cost savings based on under runs in the
budgets for their respective work scopes. In 2008, Bechtel agreed to
settle its team incentive fee claim for a payment of $15 million, conditioned
upon Bechtel receiving an additional payment equal to any amount over $15
million that Stone and Webster receives in resolution of its team incentive fee
claim. On August 20, 2008, the TVA Board approved a proposed
settlement of various claims with Stone and Webster for consideration in the
amount of approximately $29 million, of which approximately $16 million
represented Stone and Webster’s Team Incentive Fee Pool claim
recovery.
Employment
Proceedings. TVA is engaged in various administrative and
legal proceedings arising from employment disputes. These matters are
governed by federal law and involve issues typical of those encountered in the
ordinary course of business of a utility. They may include
allegations of discrimination or retaliation (including retaliation for raising
nuclear safety or environmental concerns), wrongful termination, and failure to
pay overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Adverse outcomes in
these proceedings would not normally be material to TVA’s results of operations,
liquidity, and financial condition, although it is possible that some outcomes
could require TVA to change how it handles certain personnel matters or operates
its plants.
Significant Litigation to Which TVA Is
Not a Party
NSR Case Against Duke
Energy. On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court issued an opinion
in the case of United States
v. Duke Energy, vacating the ruling of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) in favor of Duke Energy and against
EPA in EPA’s NSR enforcement case against Duke Energy. The NSR
regulations apply primarily to the construction of new plants but can apply to
existing plants if a maintenance project (1) is “non-routine” and (2) increases
emissions. The Supreme Court held that under EPA’s Prevention of
Significant Deterioration regulations, increases in annual emissions should be
used for the test, not hourly emissions as utilities, including TVA, have argued
should be the standard. Annual emissions can increase when a project
improves the reliability of plant operations and, depending on the time period
over which emission changes are calculated, it is possible to argue that almost
all reliability projects increase annual emissions. Neither the
Supreme Court nor the Fourth Circuit addressed what the “routine” project test
should be. The United States District Court for the Middle District
of North Carolina had ruled for Duke on this issue, holding that “routine” must
take into account what is routine in the industry and not just what is routine
at a particular plant or unit as EPA has argued. EPA did not appeal this
ruling. On October 5, 2007, EPA filed a motion with the United States
District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina asking that court to
vacate its entire prior ruling, including the portion relating to the test for
“routine” projects.
TVA is currently involved in an NSR
case involving Bull Run, which is discussed in more detail above. The
Supreme Court’s rejection of the hourly standard for emissions testing could
undermine one of TVA’s defenses in the Bull Run case, although TVA has other
available defenses. Environmental groups and North Carolina have
given TVA notice in the past that they may sue TVA for alleged NSR violations at
a number of TVA units. The Supreme Court’s decision could encourage such suits,
which are likely to involve units where emission control systems such as
scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction systems are not installed, under
construction, or planned to be installed in the relatively near
term.
Case Involving North
Carolina’s Petition to EPA. In 2005, North Carolina petitioned
EPA under Section 126 of the CAA to impose additional emission reduction
requirements for SO2 and
NOx on
coal-fired power plants in 13 states, including the states where TVA’s
coal-fired power plants are located. In March 2006, EPA denied the
North Carolina petition primarily on the basis that the Clean Air Interstate
Rule remedies the problem. In June 2006, North Carolina filed a petition for
review of EPA’s decision with the D.C. Circuit. On October 1, 2007,
TVA filed a friend of the court brief in support of EPA’s decision to deny North
Carolina’s Section 126 petition.
Case Involving Clean Air
Interstate Rule. On July 11, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued a decision in State of North Carolina vs. EPA
that vacated the Clean Air Interstate Rule (“CAIR”) in its entirety and
directed the EPA to promulgate a new rule that is consistent with the D.C.
Circuit opinion. EPA promulgated CAIR in 2005 and the rule required significant
additional utility SO2 and
NOx
emission reductions to address ozone and fine particulate matter attainment
issues in 28 eastern states, including all of TVA’s operating area, and the
District of Columbia. EPA requested a rehearing of the case or, in
the alternative, that the case be remanded without CAIR being
vacated. On December 23, 2008, the D.C. Circuit granted the motion
and ordered EPA to develop a new rule but allowed CAIR to remain in effect
during this process.
Case Involving the Clean Air
Mercury Rule. On February 8, 2008, the D.C. Circuit issued an
opinion in the case of State
of New Jersey vs. EPA that vacated EPA’s decision to remove coal and
oil-fired Electric Generating Units from the list of stationary sources whose
hazardous air pollutant (“HAP”) emissions are subject to Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (“MACT”) standards under section 112 of the CAA.
The D.C. Circuit also vacated and remanded the Clean Air Mercury Rule (“CAMR”)
which set mercury limits via a cap-and-trade program. Unless the D.C.
Circuit’s ruling is reversed, or EPA is able to determine that mercury emissions
are adequately controlled in accordance with the D.C. Circuit’s remand
instructions, EPA will have to regulate mercury emissions from utilities under
section 112(d) of the CAA, setting MACT standards for emissions based on command
and control type requirements. The cost to comply with the MACT standards is not
known, but is expected to be higher than the cost would have been to comply with
CAMR. Regardless of the status of the EPA’s regulatory program for mercury, TVA
will continue to reduce mercury emissions from its coal-fired power
plants. Over the next five years, mercury emissions from its
coal-fired plants are expected to continue to decline, primarily as a result of
the co-benefits received from the controls TVA is installing to reduce SO2 and
NOx
emissions.
Case Involving Cooling Water
Intake Structures. On January 25, 2007, the Second Circuit
issued an opinion in the case of Riverkeeper, Inc., vs. EPA
that remanded the EPA’s Phase II Rule, which was the second phase of a
three-part rulemaking to minimize the adverse impacts from cooling water intake
structures on fish and shellfish, as required under Section 316(b) of the Clean
Water Act (“CWA”). The Second Circuit held, among other things, that
costs cannot be compared to benefits in picking the best technology available
(“BTA”) to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of intake structures. The
Utility Water Act Group, Entergy Corporation, and PSEG Fossil LLC filed a
petition seeking review of the decision by the Supreme Court. TVA and
the attorneys general of several states, including Alabama, Kentucky, and
Tennessee, supported this petition. On April 14, 2008, the Supreme
Court granted the petition, limiting its review to one issue: "Whether Section
316(b) of the CWA authorizes EPA to compare costs with benefits in determining
the 'best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact' at
cooling water intake structures.” The Department of Justice and industry
petitioners will defend the EPA rule supporting the concept that costs under the
rule should be limited to those that are “not significantly greater than” the
benefits to be derived. The case has been argued before the Supreme Court. TVA
is unable to predict the outcome.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT
MARKET RISK
There are
no material changes related to market risk from the market risks disclosed under
Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations — Risk
Management Activities in the Annual Report.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
An evaluation has been performed under
the supervision of TVA management (including the president and chief executive
officer) and members of the disclosure control committee (including the chief
financial officer and the vice president and controller) of the effectiveness
and the design of TVA’s disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31,
2008. Based on that evaluation, the president and chief executive
officer and members of the disclosure control committee (including the chief
financial officer and the vice president and controller) concluded that TVA’s
disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2008, to
ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports TVA files or submits
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed,
summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and
Exchange Commission rules and forms. This includes controls and
procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and
communicated to TVA management, including the president and chief executive
officer, the disclosure control committee, and the chief financial officer, as
appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosure.
TVA
management believes that a control system, no matter how well designed and
operated, cannot provide absolute assurance that the objectives of the control
system are met, and no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance
that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within a company can be
detected.
TVA’s controls and procedures are
designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that the objectives
will be met. It should be noted that the design of any system of controls is
based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events,
and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its
stated goals under all potential future conditions, regardless of how
remote.
During
the most recent fiscal quarter, there were no changes in TVA’s internal control
over financial reporting that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to
materially affect, TVA’s internal control over financial reporting.
PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
See Note 10 in this Quarterly Report
for a discussion of legal proceedings affecting TVA.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The
discussion below supplements the disclosure contained in Item 1A, Risk Factors
in the Annual Report. The factors described in Item 1A, Risk Factors
in the Annual Report, together with the risk factors discussed below and the
other information contained in the Quarterly Report, could materially affect
TVA’s business, financial condition, and operating results and should be
carefully considered. Further, the risks described in this Quarterly Report and
in the Annual Report are not the only risks facing TVA. Additional risks and
uncertainties not currently known to TVA management or that TVA management
currently deems to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect TVA’s
business, financial condition, and operating results.
Strategic
Risk
• TVA
could become subject to regulation of coal combustion by-products.
There is
a risk that coal combustion by-products may be strictly regulated by federal and
state governments in a way that adversely affects TVA. Recent events
at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant have resulted in certain testimony before
Congress recommending the regulation of coal combustion by-products, which could
require TVA to make additional capital expenditures, increase TVA’s operating
and maintenance costs, or even lead to TVA’s retiring certain
facilities.
Operational
Risk
|
•
|
Restrictive
laws and regulations impacting containment ponds at TVA’s plants may
negatively affect TVA’s operations.
|
There is
a risk that TVA could be required to phase out the use of, or make significant
changes to, surface impoundments for coal combustion by-products at existing
fossil plants. Any such development would require TVA to incur
significant capital expenditures to redesign its existing surface impoundments
to include items such as composite liners, leachate collection systems, and
groundwater monitoring systems, and could also increase TVA’s maintenance costs
or even lead to TVA’s retiring certain facilities such as ash containment
ponds.
ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
AND USE OF PROCEEDS
None.
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR
SECURITIES
None.
ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF
SECURITY HOLDERS
None.
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
None
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS
Exhibit
No.
|
Description
|
|
10.1
|
Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.2
|
Deferred
Compensation Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to TVA’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.3
|
Executive
Annual Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to TVA’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.4
|
Executive
Long-Term Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.5
|
Long-Term
Deferred Compensation Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.6
|
Third
Amendment Dated as of November 10, 2008, to the Fall Maturity Credit
Agreement Dated as of May 17, 2006, as Amended as of November 2, 2006, and
November 2, 2007, Among TVA, Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative
Agent, Bank of America, N.A., as a Lender, and the Other Lenders Party
Thereto (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to TVA’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2008, File No.
000-52133)
|
|
31.1
|
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a)
Certification Executed by the Chief Executive Officer
|
|
31.2
|
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a)
Certification Executed by the Chief Financial Officer
|
|
32.1
|
Section 1350
Certification Executed by the Chief Executive Officer
|
|
32.2
|
Section 1350
Certification Executed by the Chief Financial
Officer
|
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly
authorized.
Date:
February 12,
2009 TENNESSEE
VALLEY AUTHORITY
(Registrant)
By:
|
/s/
Tom D. Kilgore
|
Tom
D. Kilgore
|
|
President
and Chief Executive Officer
|
|
(Principal
Executive Officer)
|
|
By:
|
/s/
Kimberly S. Greene
|
Kimberly
S. Greene
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer and Executive
|
|
Vice
President, Financial Services
|
|
(Principal
Financial Officer)
|
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit
No.
|
Description
|
|
10.1
|
Supplemental
Executive Retirement Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.2
|
Deferred
Compensation Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to TVA’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.3
|
Executive
Annual Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to TVA’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.4
|
Executive
Long-Term Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.5
|
Long-Term
Deferred Compensation Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to
TVA’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009, File No.
000-52313)
|
|
10.6
|
Third
Amendment Dated as of November 10, 2008, to the Fall Maturity Credit
Agreement Dated as of May 17, 2006, as Amended as of November 2, 2006, and
November 2, 2007, Among TVA, Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative
Agent, Bank of America, N.A., as a Lender, and the Other Lenders Party
Thereto (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to TVA’s Current Report
on Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2008, File No.
000-52133)
|
|
31.1
|
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a)
Certification Executed by the Chief Executive Officer
|
|
31.2
|
Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a)
Certification Executed by the Chief Financial Officer
|
|
32.1
|
Section 1350
Certification Executed by the Chief Executive Officer
|
|
32.2
|
Section 1350
Certification Executed by the Chief Financial
Officer
|