TVA third quarter revenues up, thanks to milder weather and hydro production

The Tennessee Valley Authority has reported $8.1 billion in operating revenues for the nine months ended June 30, 2019, a slight increase from the same period a year ago. TVA says the financial performance reflected lower sales based on milder weather than in the same period of the previous year and lower fuel cost recovery revenues, offset by higher base rates.

TVA third quarter revenues up, thanks to milder weather and hydro production

The Tennessee Valley Authority has reported $8.1 billion in operating revenues for the nine months ended June 30, 2019, a slight increase from the same period a year ago. TVA says the financial performance reflected lower sales based on milder weather than in the same period of the previous year and lower fuel cost recovery revenues, offset by higher base rates.

TVA’s fuel and purchased power expense was 3% lower than the same period the previous year, driven by a $114 million decrease in fuel expense. Lower commodity prices and significantly more hydroelectric generation from increased rainfall helped drive fuel expense down.

“We were pleased to be able to keep our power rates essentially flat through the first nine months of this year,” said Jeff Lyash, TVA’s president and chief executive officer. “The diversity of TVA’s power system let us benefit from lower natural gas prices and higher hydroelectric production to keep costs low for our customers.”

Operating and maintenance expense was up $408 million, or 22% higher than the nine-month period ended June 30, 2018, primarily due to $162 million of accelerated recovery of deferred environmental costs, $160 million of project write-offs and materials and supplies inventory reserves and write-offs related to the anticipated retirement of certain generating units, and $66 million of increased outage expense due to additional planned nuclear outage days.

Interest expense was down $40 million for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2019, or 4% lower than the same period a year ago, reflecting a lower overall debt balance.

Additional highlights of TVA’s third quarter fiscal year 2019 include:

  • Net income for the nine months ended June 30, 2019, was $829 million, down 32% from net income of $1.2 billion for the same period of fiscal year 2018.
  • TVA’s economic development efforts continue to attract and encourage the expansion of business in the Tennessee Valley, with over $8 billion in investments and more than 58,500 jobs created or retained through the third quarter of 2019.
  • During the third quarter of 2019, TVA finalized its 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, which considered many views of the future to determine the best methods of continuing to provide low-cost, reliable electricity, support environmental stewardship, and spur economic development in the valley over the next 20 years.
  • During Q3 2019, TVA completed power ascension testing on the third and final phase of the extended power uprate project at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and is awaiting final validation. The generating capacity is expected to increase by an estimated 465 MW after completion of the project.

TVA is a corporate agency of the U.S. that provides electricity for business customers and local power distributors serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity.