The Tennessee Valley Authority has unveiled a 10-year business plan that includes a 50-percent debt reduction and a 15-percent reduction in the total cost of power by 2007.
"Our goals for 2007 are to reduce the wholesale cost of power from the current 4.11 cents per kilowatt-hour to 3.46 cents, slash TVA's debt in half to $13.8 billion and respond to changing customer needs," said TVA CFO David Smith.
The Ten Year Business Outlook recommends a price increase in 1998 (em its first in 10 years (em which should boost TVA's revenues 5.5 percent. Expansion of the existing manufacturing credit for large industrial customers should offset the increase. The report also recommends increasing charges for TVA's lowest-cost, interruptible-power industrial customers. The plan said TVA should allow distributor customers to change their power contracts after five years from a rolling 10-year term to a five-year term. Also included are initiatives to reduce fuel, labor and supply costs, which would result in a 725-employee workforce reduction.t
Lori A. Burkhart is an associate legal editor with PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY.