Next month marks the two-year anniversary of the March 2017 GAO TVARS Report . The GAO recommended that TVA "take steps to have its retirement system adopt funding rules designed to ensure the pension plan’s full funding." The GAO went further and recommended using a "closed amortization period" to ensure that the plan is fully funded at the end of the period. TVARS uses an "open amortization period." What is the difference to TVA retirees? $4,360 million according to the GAO: Notice that in both cases, TVA begins by owing the pension $6,000 million and paying $452 million in the first year. So far, so good. What do we notice about the payments TVA is required to make as the years go by? Well, using the "closed amortization period," the annual payment remains $452 million. However, the way TVARS does it, using the "open amortization period," the annual payment is reduced by $3 million to $5 million as each year passes.