The energy to be on top of our game
Throughout the challenging summer and fall, TVA’s 12,700 employees – like Tracy Holland McCrory and Chip Troy of the Systems Operations Center (below right) – and contractors kept more than 50 generating units running and 17,000 miles of transmission lines delivering power.
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| Tracy Holland McCrory and Chip Troy compare notes in the Systems Operations Center. |
In 2005, TVA produced an amount of power equivalent to more than 13 percent of the electricity consumed by all U.S. households. Overall, TVA’s power system performed better than ever in 2005. This success is a tribute to operational excellence in fossil, nuclear, hydro, bulk power trading, transmission and all parts of the TVA system.
TVA’s fossil plants continued to set records for reliability as well as continuous-run records. TVA’s 59 coal-fired units ran continuously for more than 159 hours – Fossil’s longest stretch ever without any type of outage.
All five nuclear units generated roughly 300 million kilowatt-hours more than expected during the heavy summer demand.
Nucleonics Week ranked Browns Ferry and Sequoyah nuclear plants as having the nation’s first- and second-lowest production costs, respectively, over a three-year period. Watts Bar Nuclear Plant ranked third among single-unit sites. Sequoyah achieved a 100-percent index score from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.
Watts Bar completed its first cycle of irradiation services for tritium production, supporting the presidential directive requiring the Department of Energy to have a new supply of tritium available this year.
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171 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity lighting 3.7 million households and fueling industry 2005 TVA GENERATION |
In spite of low rainfall, TVA dams produced 13 percent more electricity than normal.
The North American Electric Reliability Council cited TVA as an “Example of Excellence” for its reliability and internal procedures.
Along with TVA’s generation mix, the bulk power trading market is a key tool for ensuring the necessary balance of power supply and demand. In 2005, TVA’s Bulk Power Trading Group acquired some 12 billion kilowatt-hours through off-system purchases.
“If the market can sell us power for less than our cost of producing it,” says Beth Creel of Bulk Power Trading, “we buy the power. If we have surplus power, we sell it.”
A world-class partnership
At its plant in Philadelphia, Mississippi, Weyerhaeuser—one of the largest forest-products companies in the world—uses the plentiful, reliable electricity distributed by Central Electric Power Association of Carthage, Mississippi.
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| Allyson Kirkwood and Danny Burnett of Central Electric Power Association work with TVA's Earl Clardy to better serve Weyerhaeuser's energy needs. |
With 27,000 residential and 5,500 commercial and industrial customers, Central EPA is one of TVA’s largest and fastest-growing Mississippi distributor customers. The area’s vibrant growth is built on an excellent infrastructure, a desirable quality of life and a world-class workforce. It is led by such regional success stories as Weyerhaeuser, the Choctaw Reservation and new facilities like Attala Steel, going up in Kosciusko.
“When Katrina hit and knocked out power all across our entire service area,” says Central EPA Manager Paul Long, “TVA was by our side with line crews, equipment, materials and technical assistance until we returned power to our customers.
“Whether it’s in operational maintenance or technical services or planning to meet the needs of our new base of end-use customers, we can always count on TVA to be a strong partner,” Long adds. “Right now TVA is building a 161-kilovolt interconnection point in our service area to ensure that we can continue to serve our customers with reliable power, even as our load keeps growing.”