Back to Business Credit Program

The Office of the Inspector General included an audit of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Back to Business Credit Program (Program) in our annual audit plan due to reputational and financial risks associated with the Program. Our audit objective was to determine if adequate controls were in place to ensure Back to Business credits were provided to businesses in compliance with Program guidelines. Our audit scope was all $13.1 million in credits issued during the life of the Program (April 2020 through September 2021). We found controls were adequate to ensure the Program credits were accurately calculated in accordance with Program guidance. However, we found some credits were not passed from the local power company to the customer. We also determined the Program did not have controls needed to more appropriately achieve the stated objective. Specifically, the Program did not include controls needed to (1) verify the reduced on-peak demand was due to a reduced level of operations as a result of COVID-19 and (2) specify how/when customers were considered back to prepandemic operating conditions.