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The Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) is the nation’s largest public power system. Wholly
owned by the U.S. government, TVA was established by Congress in 1933
primarily to provide flood control, navigation and agricultural and
industrial development, and to promote the use of electric power in
the Tennessee Valley region. TVA has been a strong presence in the region
for more than 67
years, delivering value to the Valley economy by promoting economic
growth, supplying low-cost, reliable power and supporting a thriving
river system. As the nation’s largest public power system, TVA
delivers electricity to nearly eight million people in the Valley through
158 local power companies. TVA’s most important contribution is
keeping power rates competitive while providing multiple public benefits—power
supply, flood control, navigation, land use, water quality and recreation.
 TVA
pays its own way by selling electricity to its customers throughout
the Tennessee Valley. TVA does not use tax dollars for power operations
and, unlike in other parts of the country, no tax dollars support TVA’s
integrated resource stewardship. Since 1959, when Congress made TVA’s
power program self-financing, TVA has paid the U.S. government an uninterrupted
cash dividend at a market rate of interest on the government’s
initial $1.4 billion investment. To date TVA’s payments to the
U.S. Treasury have totaled more than $3 billion.
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