As part of our annual audit plan, we audited costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. (Stantec) to provide coal combustion residual engineering services under Contract No. 13051. The contract provided for TVA to compensate Stantec for work on either a cost reimbursable, time and material (T&M), unit rate, or fixed price basis. Our audit objectives were to determine if (1) costs were billed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and <br> (2) tasks were issued using the most cost efficient pricing methodology. Our audit scope included about $55.3 million in costs billed to TVA from January 5, 2018, through February 29, 2020, of which over 99.9 percent was billed using T&M compensation terms. In summary, we determined:Stantec overbilled TVA $93,916, including (1) $73,099 for mileage rates not specified in the contract and (2) $20,817 for ineligible travel costs.The use of T&M terms on projects caused TVA to pay at least $1.65 million more than it would have if cost reimbursable payment terms had been used for those projects. Additionally, if TVA utilized cost reimbursable pricing for the remaining contract spend, they could potentially avoid $1.01 million in future costs.(Summary Only)
Date Issued
Submitting OIG
Tennessee Valley Authority OIG
Other Participating OIGs
Tennessee Valley Authority OIG
Agencies Reviewed/Investigated
Tennessee Valley Authority
Report Number
2020-15715
Report Description
Report Type
Audit
Agency Wide
Yes
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0