October, November and December of 2024 were robust for the Tennessee Valley Authority, as officials reported last week more than $2.9 billion in operating revenues and 38 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity sales in the span.
This was a 5.6% increase over the same period in 2023, where higher effective base rates and higher sales volumes played a role.
Specifically, sales of electricity increased 2% from year to year, with increases observed in data processing, hosting and related services sectors.
Jeff Lyash, TVA President and CEO, said the seven-state region continues to grow faster than the national average, while another winter storm tested, and surpassed, the power company’s all-time peak demand of 35,319 megawatts going into January — enough to power 20 million homes simultaneously.
Rolling into February, TVA has affirmed it will invest at least $16 billion over the next several years to build new generation and infrastructure, while enhancing reliability of existing assets. This includes the creation of more than 3,500 megawatts of generation, and more than 1,400 megawatts have already been created. More than 1,950 megawatts of new projects are pending environmental review, or are in preliminary stages.
For the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, half of TVA’s power supply was carbon-free — coming from nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind. Fuel and purchased power expense, however, was $44 million higher these first three months, as higher coal prices and lower availability of nuclear power, impacted prices.
Lyash noted generation diversity will continue to be key for the future.
In January 31, and after 40 years in the industry, Lyash announced his intent to retire no later than the end of the fiscal year. The decision comes after serving as TVA’s CEO for the past six years, and he will continue to lead TVA until its board of directors elects a successor.
