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Operational Excellence
Building the Future... with Excellence
Our mission of service requires operational excellence. The region depends on that excellence for its safety, for its electricity on the hottest and coldest of days, and for the commitment to delivering reliable, resilient energy — today and tomorrow.
Delivering on a promise
Community celebrates modern engineering feat with Boone Dam re-opening
After discovering water and sediment seeping below Boone Dam in 2014, TVA committed to doing whatever it took to address the problem.
In May 2022, after seven years of intensive remediation work, TVA completed the extensive repair at the Kingsport, Tennessee, site — thus returning recreational Boone Lake back to the public and resuming generation of carbonfree energy at the Boone Dam hydropower facility.
“This is the largest dam repair in TVA history,” Don Moul, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Offi cer, said. “We made a commitment to complete this effort safely within seven years and to do it right the fi rst time with a high-quality repair. We delivered on our promise to the Tri-Cities region.”
The $326 million project was a major geotechnical engineering feat that included 2 million hours of dam remediation.
With partners, TVA constructed a seepage barrier in several phases, including two years of around-the-clock construction of a non-erodible underground cutoff wall. After that, workers restored the crest of the dam to its previous elevation and constructed a fl oodwall.
In April 2022, for the second year in a row, TVA received the Excellence in Construction Project Award from the United States Society on Dams for the team’s efforts.
Moul said safety for the public and our employees was our No. 1 priority throughout the project. Teamwork and an eye on operational excellence were key to everything we did.
Several years ago, when inspections determined the extent of the problem, TVA took interim safety measures such as lowering the lake elevation.
Throughout the project, TVA engineers collaborated with nationally recognized experts in dam safety and owners of large dams, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“TVA executed a highly technical project on a rapid schedule, all while maintaining the safety of the public and its workers and engaging the local community,” said Chris Saucier, technical director
—Don Moul, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Offi cer
TVA operates one of the largest, most reliable, and cleanest energy systems in the nation. More than half our energy supply comes from carbon-free sources.
Third-largest nuclear fl eet in the United States, providing approximately 40% of TVA’s energy
One of the largest high-voltage transmission systems in North America
TVA board member Brian Noland, TVA senior leaders and partners celebrate in May 2022 when recreational Boone Lake re-opened for public use following completion of TVA’s Boone Dam restoration project.
Jeff Lyash, TVA President and Chief Executive Officer, speaks at the Boone Dam celebration event.
—Jeff Lyash, TVA President and Chief Executive Offi cer
of the project and a principal project manager in TVA Dam Safety.
Community outreach was an important aspect of the project. TVA worked closely with the Boone Lake Association and Boone Dam Repair Coalition on efforts such as new ramp extensions, a new swim beach and other activities to enable local residents to enjoy the lake while work continued on the dam. TVA experts also partnered with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Association to plant grasses and shrubs and stock the lake with fi sh.
“The Boone Dam project exemplifi es all three aspects of TVA’s mission of service — environmental stewardship, economic development and energy,” Jeff Lyash, TVA President and Chief Executive Offi cer, said to a crowd that gathered on a sunny day just prior to Memorial Day weekend, which marked the celebratory occasion of Boone Dam’s reopening.
“Environmental stewardship by providing a beautiful recreational area for families to picnic, swim and relax; economic development with a lake that helps communities in the Tri-Cities region prosper; and electricity that is clean, reliable and generated right here at the Boone Dam hydropower facility.”
Delivering reliable energy 24/7
TVA meets record energy demands through partnerships, operational excellence
This summer was a hot one. For TVA, that meant high energy demand.
During a two-week period in June, TVA had six days with energy demand above 30,000 megawatts, including the highest recorded June power demand of 31,161 megawatts. In July, we experienced six days above 30,000 megawatts as well. To put that in perspective, one megawatt is enough to power 585 homes.
Meeting those demands requires operational excellence — in planning, in preparation and in execution. TVA also partners with our local power companies, their end-use customers and our directly served customers.
“Keeping upwards of 30,000 megawatts fl owing day after day is not an easy task — even for a system as large and diverse as TVA’s,” said Jacinda Woodward, Senior Vice President of Power Operations at TVA. “Add to that our commitment to keep power rates low, and it is quite a balancing act.”
TVA maintains one of the largest, most diverse generation portfolios in the nation. This diversity provides tremendous fl exibility. Since 2000, the TVA system has maintained 99.999% reliability.
One of the ways TVA met the demand was through Demand Response programs such as our EnergyRight® Interruptible Power program, which offers incentives for participating customers that agree to allow TVA to request a suspension of a portion of their energy load, with up to 30 minutes notice, during times when the power system is constrained. Participants receive demand credits in exchange for load curtailment up to 12 hours.
Magotteaux Inc. in Pulaski, Tennessee, receives power from our local power company partner, PES Energize, also based in Pulaski. A company representative said Magotteaux enrolled in the Summer Interruptible program as an opportunity to receive monthly demand credits on its power bill in exchange for curtailment, noting that the program also provided the company some opportunity to perform preventive maintenance on its critical pieces of equipment during curtailment.
“Magotteaux has around a 50-year partnership with PES Energize and TVA,” said Corey Foreman, senior project engineer at Magotteaux. “The reliable power from PES and TVA and the incentive programs offered through their partnership are what helps keep Magotteaux competitive.”
38,111 megawatts
Summer Net Capability
99.999% reliability
Industry-leading performance consistently delivered to customers since 2000
$17.2 billion invested
in a cleaner and more diverse energy generation mix since 2013
10,000 megawatts
of solar capacity targeted by 2035
Tamieka G. Russell, account manager at PES Energize, said the biggest benefi t of the Summer Interruptible program is savings.
“Infl ation is at a 40-year high and the workforce is at its lowest, so industries are looking for ways to save and meet corporate goals,” she said. “The Summer IP created an avenue for reducing cost.”
“Our partnership with TVA is nothing short of amazing,” Russell added. “Programs and services are created with the end-use customer in mind. Without TVA, we could not provide exceptional services to customers like Magotteaux. We couldn’t be more appreciative of the partnership.”
Detailed planning and our strategically diverse power system contributed tremendously to
We operate the nation’s third-largest nuclear fl eet, which meets approximately 40% of the energy needs of TVA’s service territory.
TVA operates three nuclear plants, and as an example of the sheer volume of their output, Unit 3 at our Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant near Athens, Alabama, ran for 690 consecutive days and produced more than 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity prior to its scheduled refueling and maintenance outage earlier this year. To put this into perspective, that’s enough to power the average home for about 1.8 million years.
TVA’s nuclear performance is critical to life in the Tennessee Valley, because it helps ensure our power is reliable and clean, and our energy costs stay among the lowest in the nation.
“Every step we take to further the performance and reliability of our nuclear fl eet helps deliver greater value for everyone we serve across the Valley,” said Tim Rausch, Executive Vice President and TVA Chief Nuclear Offi cer. “Families, industries, businesses and entire communities enjoy the direct benefi ts of lowcost, carbon-free and extremely reliable nuclear energy.”
In 2022, TVA achieved Industry Top Quartile Fleet Performance, a rise from the fourth quartile in 2019.
Rausch said we couldn’t achieve operational excellence without our talented nuclear staff, our commitment to continuous improvement and our signifi cant equipment upgrades.
Those upgrades included substantial investments in all three of our nuclear facilities, including a Spring 2022 upgrade of Browns Ferry Nuclear Unit 3, with four high-pressure feedwater heaters that are larger and more robust, and a Summer 2022 replacement of four steam generators at Watts Bar Nuclear Unit 2, in Spring City, Tennessee.
These upgrades increased reliability and resiliency to TVA’s system.
With an eye on continuous improvement, TVA strives to have the best nuclear fl eet in the nation by the end of 2025.
our success in meeting summer demand peaks. Using our hydroelectric power and our nuclear assets allowed us to meet the demand while keeping costs low, and using our simple combustion turbine gas units—which normally serve only peaking power—around the clock helped keep reliability high.
And then, there are our dedicated employees, such as Hunter Cason, a coal-hauling foreman at Gallatin Fossil Plant outside Nashville.
“During the triple-digit days, we knew our work was helping provide reliable power for our friends, families, grandmothers and literally the 10 million people of the Valley who rely on us,” Cason said. “We are here for them because we believe in the mission of TVA to make life better for people.”
Nuclear excellence delivers value
At TVA, numbers help tell our nuclear operations story
In June 2022, TVA received the Nuclear Energy Institute Top Innovative Practice Award for our commitment to safety, cost-savings and industry leadership. The award highlighted an improvement TVA engineers made to support steam generator inspections.
—Tim Rausch, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Offi cer
Biodiversity Policy helps protect our region for generations to come
Ask Melanie Farrell about TVA’s new Biodiversity Policy, and she mentions two things in rapid succession: fi rst, the policy’s importance to the health of the Tennessee Valley, and second, her family.
“I have two small children, and our family spends a lot of time outside hiking, camping, boating and enjoying this beautiful area,” said Farrell, vice president of External Strategy and Regulatory Oversight at TVA. “The policy helps enrich this region today and protects the area for generations to come.”
“TVA has always protected biodiversity, but we developed this formal policy to help strategically integrate biodiversity conservation into all aspects and all levels of our operations,” Farrell said.
The policy, which was approved by TVA’s Board of Directors in November 2021, states that TVA will protect biodiversity through our stewardship of public lands, management of the Tennessee River system, local and regional partnerships, and integration of species and habitat conservation in project planning.
—Adam Dattilo, TVA biodiversity senior program manager
In FY 2022, TVA carried out 120 biodiversity projects and initiatives. The projects fell into three general categories: on-theground conservation; monitoring and research; and education and outreach.
“We are taking a proactive approach,” said Adam Dattilo, biodiversity senior program manager at TVA. “Given the wide span of our operations across the region, this policy is helping unite how we talk about conservation work as an enterprise. Our region is a biodiversity hotspot with so many unique plant and animal species. We live in a special place, and this policy helps us protect it.”
TVA botanists and biologists are working to protect and expand a colony of rare frosted elfin butterflies.
In the dark of the night
Botanists study and work to protect rare butterfl y and its host plant
At fi rst blush, it sounds like a scene from a children’s movie: a group of people traipsing into the forest at night, using LED black lights to search for elusive butterfl ies and magical plants.
But when that scene occurred in Summer 2022 in North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest, it was — in fact — serious work.
A few years after Tennessee naturalist Julius Basham and his father fi rst discovered a colony of rare frosted elfi n butterfl ies and their unique local habitat, yellow wild indigo plants, Basham led botanists from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Forest Service to the secluded location beneath a TVA transmission line.
Based on their fi ndings, the partners are working to protect and expand the colony.
During their nighttime trek, the botanists used LED blacklights to illuminate the butterfl ies’ larvae. They found 115 caterpillars and 81 host plants across 7 acres of TVA right of way.
For the frosted elfi n, yellow wild indigo is the only suitable habitat for the insect to lay eggs and attach a cocoon for hatching larvae. This unique process occurs during a two-week window in the summer when the plant blooms.
“This would have never happened without Julius,” said Adam Dattilo, TVA biodiversity senior program manager and one of the botanists that conducted the survey. “He really put in motion a true conservation effort to save both the frosted elfi n and its host plant.”
TVA partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on conservation efforts across the Tennessee Valley. Our work helped protect the snail darter, which recently was delisted after being protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975. Photos courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Endangered no longer
Tiny snail darter makes big comeback thanks to TVA and partners
For a fi sh the size of your pinky, the snail darter sure has made a big splash.
After being protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975, the tiny fi sh is now delisted, thanks to conservation work by TVA and our partners.
“It is partners like TVA, who are committed to working together to change the trajectory of species like the snail darter, that give hope to ongoing conservation efforts across the country and promises that our natural resources will be enjoyed by future generations,” said Daniel Elbert, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fi eld supervisor for the Ecological Services Program in Tennessee.
The snail darter’s local story began in the 1970s as TVA closed in on fi nishing construction of Tellico Dam in East Tennessee. Biologists discovered the snail darter in the waters above the dam. Under the Endangered Species Act, TVA temporarily halted construction of the dam.
To protect the fi sh from extinction, TVA, state and federal biologists relocated snail darters to various free-fl owing rivers in the area prior to the Tellico Dam completion in November 1979.
Over the years, we implemented new technologies to improve water quality and habitat and maintain adequate reservoir fl ows — all of which created the conditions necessary for snail darters to migrate and thrive in the Tennessee River watershed.
Today, the snail darter is one of only 55 species to have been delisted due to recovery. As part of delisting protocol, TVA will continue to work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offi cials to monitor snail darter populations for the next fi ve years.
“We’ve got fi sh that live nowhere else in the world but right here,” said Shannon O’Quinn, TVA water resources specialist. “Their habitat is improving, making it suitable to reestablish fi sh like the snail darter so they can fl ourish. We work tirelessly to make sure it stays that way.”
