All Reports

The Office of the Inspector General audited costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Bechtel Power Corporation for services provided by Bartlett Holdings, Inc. Bartlett was to furnish qualified personnel to Bechtel on a seconded basis for the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 construction completion project. Our audit included approximately $121.4 million in payments made by TVA for services provided under the subcontract from January 1, 2010, through September 30, 2013.

The Office of the Inspector General performed this review as part of its ongoing effort to provide oversight of the Kingston Recovery Project to determine if TVA is meeting its commitments for the Kingston Recovery Project.Our review found TVA has met or is meeting its commitments for the Kingston Recovery Project. Community leaders and regulatory personnel interviewed were satisfied with TVA's actions to meet its commitments.In order to address these commitments, TVA has taken a number of steps.

The Office of the Inspector General initiated a review of the Energy Services Company (ESCO), currently known as the Federal Energy Services Program. The objective of the review was to evaluate whether the program was meeting its intended purpose of providing energy efficiency for the customer. TVA was unable to provide documentation to allow determination of the amount of actual energy efficiency achieved, specifically by ESCO, for two of the three current customers participating in the program.

The Office of the Inspector General evaluated the effectiveness of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) processes for identifying and managing actual and potential environmental issues and risks. TVA's Environmental Management System (EMS) program was established to manage environmental impacts of TVA operations and help fulfill commitments of TVA's Environmental Policy.

During a prior review of how TVA organizations assess the condition of its assets, we learned that asset condition assessments done by the Fossil Power Group (FPG) determined some generation assets were in poor condition. As a follow up to this prior work, we initiated a review to determine whether TVA was taking actions to address FPG systems and programs with poor ratings.We found actions were taken to address some programs and systems with poor health.

The OIG audited the costs billed to TVA by Choctaw Generation Limited Partnership (CGLP) for power purchases. TVA and Choctaw Generation, Inc., entered into a contract with an effective date of February 20, 1997. Choctaw Generation, Inc. became CGLP through an assignment agreed to by TVA, effective April 30, 1998.

The OIG found official stations were generally appropriate for TVA's most frequent travelers. However, we noted departments with employees who frequently travel to multiple locations assign official stations in differing ways. Additionally, controls and policies could be strengthened by including guidance on evaluating official stations and requiring approval from the appropriate level of management for decisions not to change official stations based on the dollar values of travel expenses incurred or expected to be incurred.

The OIG audited TVA's payments to the Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) and the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) under two contracts with the State of Alabama. Under the contracts, AEMA and ADPH cooperated in a program to operate and maintain the Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) programs for TVA's Browns Ferry and Sequoyah Nuclear plants. Our objective was to determine if the costs paid under the contracts were in compliance with the contract terms.

In a previous OIG review of how TVA organizations assess the condition of assets, we learned asset condition assessments completed by River Operations (RO) had determined some assets were deteriorated. As a follow up to our prior work, we reviewed whether TVA was taking action to address RO systems and components with deteriorated conditions.

The OIG assessed the effectiveness of the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) organization's role within TVA's overall risk management program. To aid in our assessment, we compiled the results of prior relevant audits and evaluations to identify common themes that bear on the ERM organization's effectiveness.We found TVA has made improvements in its ERM program since a 2008 OIG inspection was completed.