Federal Reports

Top Performance Challenges

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) to audit the balance sheet as of September 30, 2013, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), changes in proprietary capital, and cash flows for the year then ended. In addition, the contract called for the review of TVA's fiscal year 2013 interim financial information filed on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The contract required the work be performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. The objective of our review was not intended to enable us to express, and we do not express, an opinion on the TVA's financial statements or on management's conclusions about the effectiveness of its system of internal control. EY is responsible for the auditor's reports dated November 15, 2013, and the conclusions expressed in those reports. However, our review disclosed no instances where EY did not comply, in all material respects, with generally accepted government auditing standards.

The OIG audited the subcontracting process used by URS Energy & Construction, Inc. (URS), under contract numbers 66777 and 72142. Under the contracts, URS was to provide design, engineering, procurement, delivery, installation, and construction management services for TVA's (1) combined cycle combustion turbine or simple cycle combustion turbine projects and (2) various equipment for selective catalytic reduction and dry flue gas desulfurization precipitators. Our audit included subcontracts and related change orders for $256.3 million in subcontractor costs URS billed to TVA from December 14, 2007, to June 27, 2012.In summary, we determined URS (1) did not obtain TVA approval for some subcontracts and circumvented requirements for TVA approval, and (2) overbilled TVA $168,623 in the markup costs applied to costs for services and equipment provided by TVA under subcontracting agreements. Summary Only

This report was withdrawn, revised, and reissued as OIG-SBLF-14-002R on June 26, 2015, to reflect changes made on pages 2, 13, and 14 of the report. The changes clarified the amount of administrative costs that were reviewed by the Office of Inspector General as part of a sample. The corrections did not affect the findings, conclusions, and recommendations as reported.

The OIG evaluated the adequacy of actions taken to mitigate combustible coal dust at TVA coal plants. Despite some improvements in combustible dust management, we determined actions taken to date were inadequate in improving deteriorating equipment conditions, addressing housekeeping challenges, and providing appropriate monitoring of combustible dust conditions at the coal plants.Although the probability of occurrence for coal dust explosions was rated by TVA in the Enterprise Risk Management risk map as unlikely, the potential consequences of an explosion could be severe and result in disruption of generating capacity, costly clean up and repairs, and even loss of life.We found coal plant and coal handling conditions exceeded acceptable dust level limits specified in TVA Safety Procedure (TSP) 816. Specifically, we observed coal dust accumulations that exceeded the 1/32 inch standard in many of the coal handling areas during walkdowns at the Bull Run, Cumberland, and Paradise fossil plants. Additionally, TVA self-identified coal dust accumulations that were above the allowable standard in many areas throughout the coal fleet. We also found monitoring tools required by the program were not being used consistently to improve plant conditions.Site assessment reports performed by yard systems engineers indicated some conditions improved between 2010 and 2012. Some equipment deficiencies were being addressed, and there were several programmatic practices in progress that were expected to improve conditions over time. However, equipment has deteriorated faster than funding has been available for repairs or replacements. Deficiencies resulting from inadequate equipment maintenance contribute to the increased presence of combustible coal dust and coal accumulations within the coal handling system. With deteriorating equipment and recent staff reductions for housekeeping, TVA faces significant challenges in keeping coal dust accumulations within the limits specified in TSP 816. More focus is needed on the program in order to better contain coal dust and reduce the necessity for extensive and repeated housekeeping activities to achieve dust accumulations below the 1/32 inch standard.TVA management generally agreed with our recommendations and has taken or is taking actions to address the findings.