Federal Reports

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Corporate Accounting provides financial services to TVA in the areas of (1) Accounting Reporting and Research, which includes Accounting Policy and Research, External Reporting, and Fuel Accounting; (2) Disbursement Services, which includes Payment Services and Payroll Operations; (3) Revenue; and (4) Sarbanes-Oxley. As of March 24, 2015, Corporate Accounting had 72 employees. This review assesses operational and cultural strengths and opportunities for improvement within TVA's Corporate Accounting. We used operational expectations as defined in Corporate Accounting's business plan and behavioral expectations as defined by TVA's values as the criteria for this review. We identified several operational and cultural strengths within Corporate Accounting. Specifically, we found Corporate Accounting effectively provides business support to TVA operations and works well with other TVA organizations. Additionally, employees reported they have the financial information systems they need to do their jobs. We also found Corporate Accounting has an ethical environment, engaged workforce, leadership that is trusted and respected, strong teams, and opportunities for input that are satisfactory to employees. However, we also identified several operational and cultural areas for improvement within Corporate Accounting. Operational areas for improvement included: missing and misaligned performance measures for core services, not formally soliciting customer feedback, and differing management and employee perspectives around adequacy of staffing resources. Cultural areas for improvement included: minimal response to prior cultural surveys, perceived unfairness in hiring and promotion practices, lack of cohesion between Corporate Accounting departments, relationship issues with two managers, and perceived negative impacts from reorganizations and recent cost-cutting measures. These types of issues, if left unresolved, can undermine employee trust in management and negatively impact both employee engagement and operational performance.

We reported that FSA did not always accurately assess the operational status of the fully or partially operational functions, processes, and subprocesses. We also noted that FSA did not sufficiently document its validation assessments. As a result, there was a risk that FSA did not accurately assess the operational status of additional DMCS2 functions, processes, and subprocesses reported as fully or partially operational. We also found that FSA did not provide consistent and effective instructions to servicers to correct inaccurate loan balances in DMCS2 and, as aresult, inaccurate loan balances remained in DMCS2. Finally, we reported that FSA did not adequately oversee debt accounts in DMCS2 that were not assigned to a private collection agency and, as a result, there was no assurance that debt accounts were properly processed in DMCS2.

Ineffective physical and environmental protection controls place CSB’s investigative data at risk of theft, loss or damage.

For the $17.6 million that we reviewed, the District marketplace allocated and claimed all (1) shared IT costs for establishing a health insurance marketplace in accordance with the CMS-approved methodology and (2) direct costs in accordance with Federal requirements. Therefore, we have no recommendations.

Cumberland Fossil Plant (CUF) is one of the fossil plants relied upon to assist TVA in meeting its mission. CUF's mission, in support of the overarching TVA mission, is "to provide low cost, reliable generation and ancillary services while keeping our people safe and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations." This review identified operational and cultural strengths and opportunities for improvement at TVA's CUF. We used operational expectations as defined in the business plan and behavioral expectations as defined by TVA values as the criteria for this review. We identified several operational and cultural strengths at CUF. Specifically, we found CUF is currently meeting or exceeding expectations related to key measures in its current business plan. In addition, we noted the Plant Manager is generally seen as open, approachable, and respected, and some managers within midlevel management are viewed as trusted and supportive of their crews. We also found CUF employees exhibit a high degree of enthusiasm and commitment to the plant mission and seem genuinely motivated to make the plant a highly successful operation. Additionally, employees generally view CUF's safety program framework favorably. However, employees also expressed frustrations related to a number of management decisions and actions. These decisions and actions included mixed messaging related to safety, unintended consequences of safety accountability, enforcement of the sick leave policy, use of contractors, perceptions of inadequate staffing, disposal of materials, distrust of some midlevel management, use of an integrated supplier, overreactions by management, perception of conflicting priorities, and Fossil versus Nuclear.