Leonard Muzyn's TVARS Blog

TVA’s pension costs were $539,000,000 in 2013. The pension costs of TVA employees are part of the costs to operate, maintain and administer TVA’s power properties. TVA collected $539,000,000 from ratepayers to cover those costs in 2013, but made no payment to cover its pension costs for 2013. However, TVA paid $2.4 billion for redemptions and maturities of TVA bonds in 2013. TVA also incurred a $1.4 billion interest expense in 2013, most of which must have been paid to TVA bondholders. These actions by TVA have contributed to the underfunded status of TVARS. It appears that TVA's failure to pay its pension costs is in conflict with the TVA Act and TVA’s 10-k report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The TVA Act mandates that principal and interest be paid from revenues “after deducting all costs to operate, maintain and administer its power properties.” TVA’s 2013 10-k states that “costs of operating, maintaining, and administering TVA's power pr...

TVARS News Troyani Wins TVARS Board Election In the recent election for a director vacancy on the TVA Retirement System Board, employees voted to re-elect Tony Troyani. His new three-year term will run from Nov. 1, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2017. Of the 4,227 votes cast, Troyani received 2,298 (54.36 percent). Steve Ellis received 1,929 votes (45.64 percent).

Posted By tvatoday On August 25, 2014 @ 10:06 am Employees have until midnight EDT Wednesday, Sept. 3, to cast their ballots in the TVA Retirement System board election. Employees were sent ballots from VR Election Services. For assistance, including a ballot replacement, call 800-218-4026 (Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT). Employees who are TVARS members will elect a director from the two candidates listed below for a three-year term on the TVARS Board. The term will run from November 1, 2014, through October 31, 2017. Steve Ellis  – Facilities Maintenance Technician, Security Installation & Maintenance, Supply Chain & Facilities, Chattanooga Tony Troyani  – Senior Instrument Mechanic Foreman, Power Operations, Cumberland Fossil Plant Click on the names above to view detailed candidate information and campaign statements (if submitted). Campaign statements will be updated weekly throughout the election if a candidate submits an update. VR Elec...

Included in TVA’s fiscal year 2015 budget approved by the TVA Board this week was a $215 million contribution to TVARS.  TVA’s CEO was also given the discretion to contribute up to an additional $60 million.  Per the TVA press briefing excerpt below, funding the pension is “one of several issues TVA must manage as it balances the interests of plan participants, our customers and the overall financial condition of TVA.”  TVA notes that a 63 percent funded system with a $4.3 Billion shortfall, “is an improvement over last year, when the system was funded at 59 percent.”  TVA did not address why pension funding continues to be withheld even as funds are collected from ratepayers to specifically cover pension costs.  Based on information received by TVA retiree Dan Pitts from TVA through a Freedom of Information Act request, TVA expects to collect $528 million from its ratepayers in the current fiscal year specifically to cover pension costs, but plans to cont...

Employees who are TVARS members will elect a director from the two candidates listed below for a three-year term on the TVARS Board. The term will run from November 1, 2014, through October 31, 2017. Steve Ellis – Facilities Maintenance Technician, Security Installation & Maintenance, Supply Chain & Facilities, Chattanooga Tony Troyani – Senior Instrument Mechanic Foreman, Power Operations, Cumberland Fossil Plant Click on the names above to view detailed candidate information and campaign statements (if submitted). Campaign statements will be updated weekly throughout the election if a candidate submits an update. VR Election Services, a leader in the election services industry, will handle the voting process again this year. Election ballots and instructions will be mailed to employees’ home addresses on August 14. Employees will also receive voting information at work by e-mail directly from VR Election Services. The election will be open from August 18-September 3 (24...

On July 14, the TVARS board voted to recommend that TVA contribute $350 million to TVARS in 2015.  Jim Hovious and I supported and voted for this recommendation when it became clear to us that the board was likely to recommend a lower amount without our support.  Per the outdated formula in the TVARS rules, TVA must contribute at least $215 million in 2015.  Changing the minimum contribution formula would require the approval of both the TVARS and TVA boards.

TVA looks for way to replenish underfunded pension plan by   Dave Flessner view bio  »      When President Franklin Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933, he wanted TVA to be “a corporation clothed with the power of government but possessed of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise.” TVA’s unique status as an independent federally owned corporation helped it capture the power of the Tennessee River and keep power rates relatively low for most of its 81-year history. But some TVA retirees fear that TVA’s independence also now threatens the security of the utility’s retirement program for nearly 36,000 current and retired TVA employees and their families. TVA’s employee retirement fund is more than $4 billion short of what actuaries estimate it should have to pay all the promised future retirement benefits. Although the fund remains one of the biggest in the Southeast and has more than enough money to pay current reti...