Coal Royalty Review

At the request of the Coal Acquisition and Supply, Fossil Power Group, we initiated an inspection to review and obtain information related to a coal company’s cost and profitability assertions. The company leases land from TVA and pays TVA a royalty fee per ton on all coal removed from a mine which is on the leased premises. Due to increased costs and reduced profitability, the company has requested TVA to consider revising the contract to reduce the royalty fee payments.In summary, our review of selected financial and production report information and supporting cost documentation pertaining to the TVA mine found (1) nothing to indicate cost and profitability assertions were not accurate, (2) some costs and coal revenues were a function of market conditions which impacted the company’s profitability, and (3) the company began allocating costs on internal financial reports in August 2006 which more accurately depicted profitability. In addition, the company discovered royalty fee payments were underpaid by approximately $15,000 when providing requested information during our review. Summary Only