Energy

A prosperous future begins with energy. It turns ideas into reality, inventions into products, and plans into profit. With record-breaking performance and increasing opportunities, TVA expects to continue providing affordable, reliable power for generations to come.

For the fifth year in a row, the TVA transmission system delivered power to 158 power distributors and 62 directly served industrial customers with 99.999 percent reliability, achieving its lowest-ever rate of “connection point interruptions.” TVA continues to expand its facilities to meet rising demand and to provide customers with an ample supply of power. The restart of Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 1 is now more than 50 percent complete. In 2007, it is expected to begin providing TVA customers with an additional 1,280 megawatts of clean, reliable, and affordable power.

During the 2004 fiscal year, TVA sold more electricity than ever before—almost 166 billion kilowatt hours—and met an all-time summer peak demand of 29,966 megawatts. TVA met these milestones through record levels of performance. The fossil system set an all-time record for reliability, and improved performance saved TVA an estimated $123 million. A dozen fossil units achieved continuous-run records, including Widows Creek Unit 3, which surpassed the previous TVA fossil-system record of 616 days of power generation without interruption. TVA also achieved the second-highest level of nuclear generation in its history.

To guide its nuclear program into the future, TVA named Karl W. Singer Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President of TVA Nuclear. An 11-year employee of TVA, Singer has more than 21 years of experience in the nuclear industry and an extensive background in nuclear power plant operations.

To better enable distributor customers to meet the challenges of the competitive marketplace, TVA is working with distributors and the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association to develop a new business model, better contracts, and innovative pricing products.

An environmentally friendly future with a reliable electricity supply is expected to require the emissions-free power provided by nuclear energy. TVA has joined two teams of companies working with the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate and test a process by which advanced nuclear power reactors could obtain a combined construction and operating license (COL). The consortia formed by these companies are expected to demonstrate the timeliness of the COL process and provide a detailed cost estimate for building a new unit, although neither consortium has made a commitment to build such a unit at this time.

For three years in a row, TVA’s Green Power Switch® program, which provides a choice for Valley consumers seeking power from renewable energy, has earned top-10 rankings from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Invenergy LLC Buffalo Mountain Wind Energy Project contributes to the success of this program. In the past year, construction began on an additional 15 wind turbines at the park, each capable of generating 1.8 megawatts of electricity. This is a significant boost from the site’s three existing wind generators, which have a capacity of 660 kilowatts each. When completed, the expanded wind park is expected to provide enough electricity to supply 3,525 homes.