TVA Named a Top Utility 4th Straight Year by Site Selection Magazine

September 3, 2009

Site Selection magazine has named TVA one of the Top Utilities of 2008 because of the agency’s outstanding economic development achievements in the Tennessee Valley region last year.

This was the fourth consecutive year in which TVA has earned the Top Utilities honor.

In 2008, TVA and distributors of TVA power, working with state and local partners in the seven-state region, helped attract or retain more than 42,000 jobs and leveraged some $5.5 billion in capital investment, including Volkswagen’s investment in Chattanooga.

“We are honored that Site Selection magazine recognizes the collaborative accomplishments of our economic development team, which includes TVA employees, local utilities and state and local partners,” said TVA Economic Development Senior Vice President John Bradley. “Achieving this top decile performance recognition for four consecutive years reaffirms that the Tennessee Valley is a great place to do business.”

Site Selection’s Top Utilities recognition is based on performance excellence in four categories — capital investment, job creation, capital investment per capita and jobs per 10,000 in population. The magazine also considers responses from a select group of site selection consultants, as well as utility investments in new generation, transmission and renewable energy projects.

“The best utility economic developers lead the way toward high-impact projects and the low-carbon economy all at once,” Site Selection Managing Editor Adam Bruns said. “Helping companies meet sustainability and efficiency targets is becoming just as important as incentives or special power rates in supporting new or existing corporate operations and expansions.”

Bruns added that projects such as Wacker Chemie’s investment in Charleston, Tenn., earlier this year demonstrate how renewable energy and business growth can be synonymous, and they give TVA’s territory a healthy head start for the magazine’s tally of utility-assisted economic development projects for 2009. TVA’s economic development services focus on attracting new industry, retaining and growing existing businesses and helping communities be better prepared for economic growth. Economic development is part of TVA’s core mission, and more program information is available at www.TVAed.com.

Site Selection’s Top Utilities designation gauges the ability of U.S. utility companies to complement power delivery by fostering corporate investment in their territories, including Web site tools and innovative programming. Results are tallied from responses to Site Selection’s annual survey of utilities and the magazine’s own research. The international magazine delivers expansion-planning information to more than 44,000 executives of fast-growing companies.

The entire Top Utilities article and the annual Utilities Directory appear in the September 2009 edition of Site Selection and online at www.siteselection.com.

TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financing. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 9 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also creates economic development opportunities and manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood damage reduction, navigation, water quality and recreation.

Media Contact

Scott Brooks, Knoxville, (865) 632-8031
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000

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