Federal Reports

The audit of AmeriCorps’ Grant Closeout Process found that AmeriCorps’ grant closeout policies and procedures generally complied with the provisions of 2 C.F.R. § 200.344 with the following issues identified: 1) AmeriCorps did not have adequate policies and procedures for processing grant funds returned post-closeout; 2) AmeriCorps did not have sufficient internal controls to ensure timely grant closeout; and 3) AmeriCorps’ recording of grant data into USAspending.gov was inconsistent and inaccurate. These issues stemmed from AmeriCorps’ lack of a formal procedure to process grant funds returned after closeout, which led to data discrepancies between the Payment Management System and AmeriCorps’ grant system of record, eGrants. AmeriCorps relies on manual data entry methods to report grant award information to USAspending.gov, without sufficient system controls or independent reviews to detect and correct errors prior to submission. Furthermore, AmeriCorps failed to effectively utilize administrative closeouts when grant recipients did not provide final reports within one year of the award’s period of performance end date. AmeriCorps’ response to the findings and recommendations is included in the report.

We found that unsupported costs were charged to an IRA grant and BOR did not properly oversee a grant and cooperative agreement. 

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

Evaluation

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

We performed an audit of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Contract No. 13814 with Hitachi Energy USA, Inc. (Hitachi).  Under the contract, Hitachi was to design, furnish, and install/commission power transformers and related equipment at TVA designated locations.  Our audit objectives were to determine (1) if costs billed to TVA and purchase orders (PO) issued were in compliance with the contract's terms and (2) the reasonableness of TVA's process for evaluating the prices for products and services outside the contract's pricing schedule.  Our audit scope included about $471 million in approved spend for 466 POs issued between September 27, 2018, and September 26, 2024.

We selected ten POs issued under the contract, which included six POs for transformers listed in the contract’s pricing schedule and four POs for unique transformers or related services not listed on the contract’s pricing schedule.  We determined the costs for transformers included in the contract’s pricing schedule did not always comply with the contract’s pricing terms.  Specifically, we found:

• Between 2022 and 2024, TVA issued POs with transformer prices that significantly exceeded the contract’s pricing because of changing market conditions.  This resulted in TVA agreeing to pay $33.5 million more than the contract price for transformers on four POs.  Contract No. 13814 expired in 2024.  TVA executed a new contract with Hitachi in 2025, which included the necessary remediations to prevent TVA from agreeing to pay excessive transformer prices in the future.
• Although Hitachi followed the contract’s pricing on two POs we reviewed, Hitachi used incorrect index values when adjusting the base transformer pricing, resulting in $321,560 in overbilled transformer costs.

Additionally, for any transformer or transformer-related material, equipment, or services outside the contract's pricing schedule, we determined TVA’s process for evaluating PO prices was reasonable.

As part of our annual audit plan, we performed an audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Day and Zimmerman NPS, Inc. (DZNPS) for the services of qualified craft, noncraft, or staff augmented personnel to perform modification, outage, supplemental maintenance, and technical support work at TVA nuclear generating sites under Contract No. 11515.  Our audit objective was to determine if costs billed to TVA at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant were in compliance with the terms of Contract No. 11515. Our scope included approximately $100 million in costs billed to TVA under Contract No. 11515 (Purchase Contract No. 12567 for Sequoyah Nuclear Plant) from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024.

In summary, we determined the costs billed by DZNPS generally complied with the contract except for $56,659 in overbilled costs.  Specifically, we determined DZNPS billed TVA (1) $53,961 in ineligible incentives and (2) $2,698 in ineligible labor costs.