MESSAGE FROM THE INSPECTOR GENERAL BEN WAGNER
I am pleased to present our report for the period October 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Serving in our oversight role, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continues to identify risks to operations, ways to save or recover money, make recommendations to improve operations, and prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse. In this semiannual period, our audit, evaluation, and investigative activities identified more than $13 million in questioned costs; recoveries, fees, and fines; waste/other monetary loss; and opportunities for Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to improve its programs and operations. Below are highlights of our work this period.
- Five contract compliance audits identified potential overbillings of $2.1 million.
- An audit of TVA's Pandemic Relief Credit determined better controls were needed to ensure the Time of Use portion of the credit was passed to local power company customers.
- An audit of early payment discounts on vendor invoices found TVA was not receiving all available discounts.
- An evaluation of TVA's compliance with Section 26a of the TVA Act regarding management of obstructions affecting the Tennessee River system found TVA's oversight is not adequate to ensure the Section 26a permit process is effective.
- An evaluation of TVA's preemployment investigation and onboarding processes found TVA was not always performing preemployment suitability and onboarding steps in a timely manner.
- An evaluation of TVA's Radiological Respiratory Protection Program found selected respiratory requirements we reviewed were being performed as required at TVA's nuclear plants.
- Our investigative results include six indictments/ informations, two convictions, a pretrial diversion, and recoveries to TVA or other entities totaling about $200,000.
Since its beginning in 1933, TVA has relied on its ability to build significant generation assets to electrify the Tennessee Valley. Today, TVA is facing many challenges to meet growing electricity demand while balancing reliability and low rates. In the next 4 years, TVA is expected to spend at least $18 billion to build generation and upgrade transmission assets, making this the next large construction period in TVA history. Learn more about these evolving challenges in our Emerging Risk Brief.
Our audit and evaluation teams are organized around key risk areas in TVA, including contracts, cybersecurity, financial, and operational. As TVA is evolving to meet challenges now and in the future, we too are evolving to provide additional oversight and insight of these evolving risk areas. In October, we realigned one of our evaluations groups to focus on TVA major capital project management. This allows us to provide more direct focus on TVA's capital project management processes and the planned $18 billion spend.
I am proud of the work our office has completed in this semiannual period and grateful for our team's commitment to do work that can help make TVA better.