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Contingencies and Legal Proceedings | 3 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies and Legal Proceedings | Contingencies and Legal Proceedings Contingencies Nuclear Insurance. The Price-Anderson Act provides a layered framework of protection to compensate for losses arising from a nuclear event in the United States. For the first layer, all of the NRC nuclear plant licensees, including TVA, purchase $375 million of nuclear liability insurance from American Nuclear Insurers for each plant with an operating license. Funds for the second layer, the Secondary Financial Program, would come from an assessment of up to $127 million from the licensees of each of the 103 NRC licensed reactors in the United States. The assessment for any nuclear accident would be limited to $19 million per year per unit. American Nuclear Insurers, under a contract with the NRC, administers the Secondary Financial Program. With its seven licensed units, TVA could be required to pay a maximum of $891 million per nuclear incident, but it would have to pay no more than $133 million per incident in any one year. When the contributions of the nuclear plant licensees are added to the insurance proceeds of $375 million, over $13.0 billion, including a five percent surcharge for legal expenses, would be available. Under the Price-Anderson Act, if the first two layers are exhausted, the U.S. Congress is required to take action to provide additional funds to cover the additional losses. TVA carries property, decommissioning, and decontamination insurance of $5.1 billion for its licensed nuclear plants, with up to $2.1 billion available for a loss at any one site, to cover the cost of stabilizing or shutting down a reactor after an accident. Some of this insurance, which is purchased from Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited ("NEIL"), may require the payment of retrospective premiums up to a maximum of approximately $127 million. TVA purchases accidental outage (business interruption) insurance for TVA’s nuclear sites from NEIL. In the event that an accident covered by this policy takes a nuclear unit offline or keeps a nuclear unit offline, NEIL will pay TVA, after a waiting period, an indemnity (a set dollar amount per week) up to a maximum indemnity of $490 million per unit. This insurance policy may require the payment of retrospective premiums up to a maximum of approximately $36 million. Decommissioning Costs. TVA recognizes legal obligations associated with the future retirement of certain tangible long-lived assets related primarily to coal-fired generating plants and nuclear generating plants, hydroelectric generating plants/dams, transmission structures, and other property-related assets. See Note 9. Nuclear Decommissioning. Provision for decommissioning costs of nuclear generating units is based on options prescribed by the NRC procedures to dismantle and decontaminate the facilities to meet the NRC criteria for license termination. At December 31, 2015, the present value of the estimated future decommissioning cost of $2.2 billion was included in AROs. The actual decommissioning costs may vary from the derived estimates because of, among other things, changes in current assumptions, such as the assumed dates of decommissioning, changes in regulatory requirements, changes in technology, and changes in the cost of labor, materials, and equipment. Utilities that own and operate nuclear plants are required to use different procedures in calculating nuclear decommissioning costs under GAAP than those that are used in calculating nuclear decommissioning costs when reporting to the NRC. The two sets of procedures produce different estimates for the costs of decommissioning primarily because of the difference in the discount rates used to calculate the present value of decommissioning costs. TVA maintains a NDT to provide funding for the ultimate decommissioning of its nuclear power plants. See Note 13. TVA monitors the value of its NDT and believes that, over the long term and before cessation of nuclear plant operations and commencement of decommissioning activities, adequate funds from investments will be available to support decommissioning. TVA’s operating nuclear power units are licensed through 2033 - 2055, depending on the unit. It may be possible to extend the operating life of some of the units with approval from the NRC. Non-Nuclear Decommissioning. The present value of the estimated future non-nuclear decommissioning ARO was $1.6 billion at December 31, 2015. This decommissioning cost estimate involves estimating the amount and timing of future expenditures and making judgments concerning whether or not such costs are considered a legal obligation. Estimating the amount and timing of future expenditures includes, among other things, making projections of the timing and duration of the asset retirement process and how costs will escalate with inflation. The actual decommissioning costs may vary from the derived estimates because of changes in current assumptions, such as the assumed dates of decommissioning, changes in regulatory requirements, changes in technology, and changes in the cost of labor, materials, and equipment. TVA maintains an ART to help fund the ultimate decommissioning of its power assets. See Note 13. Estimates involved in determining if additional funding will be made to the ART include inflation rate and rate of return projections on the fund investments. Environmental Matters. TVA’s power generation activities, like those across the utility industry and in other industrial sectors, are subject to most federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. Major areas of regulation affecting TVA’s activities include air quality control, water quality control, and management and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. In the future, regulations in all of these areas are expected to become more stringent. Regulations are also expected to apply to new emissions and sources, with a particular emphasis on climate change, renewable generation, and energy efficiency. TVA has incurred, and expects to continue to incur, substantial capital and operating and maintenance costs to comply with evolving environmental requirements primarily associated with, but not limited to, the operation of TVA’s coal-fired generating units. It is virtually certain that environmental requirements placed on the operation of TVA’s coal-fired and other generating units will continue to become more restrictive and potentially apply to new emissions and sources. Litigation over emissions or discharges from coal-fired generating units is also occurring, including litigation against TVA. Failure to comply with environmental and safety laws can result in TVA being subject to enforcement actions, which can lead to the imposition of significant civil liability, including fines and penalties, criminal sanctions, and/or the shutting down of non-compliant facilities. TVA estimates that compliance with future Clean Air Act ("CAA") requirements (excluding greenhouse gas ("GHG") requirements) could lead to additional costs of $650 million from 2016 to 2025 for additional clean air controls. There could be additional material costs if reductions of GHGs, including carbon dioxide ("CO 2"), are mandated under the CAA or by legislation or regulation, or if future legislative, regulatory, or judicial actions lead to more stringent emission reduction requirements for conventional pollutants. These costs cannot reasonably be predicted at this time because of the uncertainty of such potential actions. Liability for releases and cleanup of hazardous substances is primarily regulated by the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and other federal and parallel state statutes. In a manner similar to many other industries and power systems, TVA has generated or used hazardous substances over the years. TVA is aware of alleged hazardous-substance releases at certain non-TVA areas in connection with which other potentially responsible parties may seek monetary damages from TVA. There is information indicating that TVA sent a small amount of equipment to Ward Transformer ("Ward"), a non-TVA site in Raleigh, North Carolina. The site is contaminated by PCBs from electrical equipment due to Ward’s practice of draining such equipment. A working group of potentially responsible parties is cleaning up on-site contamination in accordance with an agreement with the EPA. The cleanup effort has been divided into multiple phases, including on-site and downstream cleanup activities, two phases of soil cleanup, supplemental groundwater remediation, and cleanup of off-site contamination in the downstream drainage basin. TVA settled its potential liability for the on-site removal action for $300 thousand and has agreed to pay approximately $8 thousand to settle its potential liability in connection with an EPA study of the site. TVA believes that its liability for the remaining cleanup and remediation activities as well as any natural resource damages will be less than $1 million. TVA operations at some TVA facilities have resulted in contamination that TVA is addressing. At December 31, 2015, TVA’s estimated liability for cleanup and similar environmental work for those sites for which sufficient information is available to develop a cost estimate (primarily the TVA sites) was approximately $23 million on a non-discounted basis, and was included in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities and Other long-term liabilities on the December 31, 2015 Consolidated Balance Sheet. In November 2015, TDEC informed TVA that it agreed that TVA had complied with all the requirements of the orders issued by TDEC after the December 22, 2008 ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant. This closes all TDEC orders related to the ash spill. TVA has requested that the EPA close its CERCLA order related to the spill, but the order currently remains open. Legal Proceedings From time to time, TVA is party to or otherwise involved in lawsuits, claims, proceedings, investigations, and other legal matters ("Legal Proceedings") that have arisen in the ordinary course of conducting TVA's activities, as a result of a catastrophic event or otherwise. General. At December 31, 2015, TVA had accrued $99 million of probable losses with respect to Legal Proceedings. Of the accrued amount, $41 million is included in Other long-term liabilities and $58 million is included in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities. TVA is currently unable to estimate any amount or any range of amounts of reasonably possible losses, and no assurance can be given that TVA will not be subject to significant additional claims and liabilities. If actual liabilities significantly exceed the estimates made, TVA's results of operations, liquidity, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Environmental Agreements. In April 2011, TVA entered into two substantively similar agreements, a Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement with the EPA and a consent decree with Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and three environmental advocacy groups: the Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, and Our Children's Earth Foundation (collectively, the "Environmental Agreements"). They became effective in June 2011. Under the Environmental Agreements, TVA committed to (1) retire on a phased schedule 18 coal-fired units with a combined summer net dependable capability of 2,200 MW, (2) control, convert, or retire additional coal-fired units with a combined summer net dependable capability of 3,500 MW, (3) comply with annual, declining emission caps for sulfur dioxide ("SO 2") and nitrogen oxide ("NO x"), (4) invest $290 million in certain TVA environmental projects, (5) provide $60 million to Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee to fund environmental projects, and (6) pay civil penalties of $10 million. In exchange for these commitments, most existing and possible claims against TVA based on alleged New Source Review and associated violations were waived and cannot be brought against TVA. Some possible claims for sulfuric acid mist and GHG emissions can still be brought against TVA, and claims for increases in particulates can also be pursued at many of TVA’s coal-fired units. Additionally, the Environmental Agreements do not address compliance with new laws and regulations or the cost associated with such compliance. Case Involving Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System. In March 2010, eight current and former participants in and beneficiaries of TVARS filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee challenging the TVARS Board's 2009 decision to make changes to the TVARS Rules and Regulations (“Rules”) in exchange for a $1 billion contribution from TVA. The changes approved by the TVARS Board (1) suspended the TVA contribution requirements for 2010 through 2013, (2) reduced the calculation for COLA benefits for CY 2010 through CY 2013, (3) reduced the interest crediting rate for the fixed fund accounts, and (4) increased the eligibility age to receive COLAs from age 55 to 60. The plaintiffs alleged that these changes violated their constitutional rights (due process, equal protection, and property rights), violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and breached statutory duties owed to the plaintiffs. TVA and plaintiffs filed cross motions for summary judgment. In August 2015, the court granted TVA’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case with prejudice. In September 2015, the plaintiffs appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (the "Sixth Circuit"). Cases Involving Gallatin Fossil Plant CCR Facilities. In January 2015, the State of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against TVA in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tennessee. The lawsuit alleges that waste materials have been released into waters of the state from coal combustion residual ("CCR") facilities at Gallatin Fossil Plant ("Gallatin") in violation of the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act and the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Act. TDEC is seeking injunctive relief as well as civil penalties of up to $17,000 per day for each day TVA is found to have violated the statutes. In February 2015, the court issued an order allowing the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association ("TSRA") and the Tennessee Clean Water Network ("TCWN") to intervene in the case. In April 2015, TSRA and TCWN filed a lawsuit against TVA in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee alleging that waste materials have been released into the Cumberland River from CCR facilities at Gallatin in violation of the Clean Water Act. The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $37,500 per violation per day. In January 2016, following negotiations among the parties, the state court issued an agreed temporary injunction requiring TVA to conduct further environmental studies at Gallatin and develop any necessary corrective action plan in cooperation with the other parties. The injunction on its terms is not intended to impact the federal lawsuit. Case Involving the NRC Waste Confidence Decision on Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage. In June 2012, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") vacated the NRC's updated Waste Confidence Decision ("WCD"). The WCD is a generic determination by the NRC that spent nuclear fuel can be safely managed until a permanent off-site repository is established; this determination has been a key component of NRC licensing activities since 1984. In August 2014, the NRC issued its final rule on continued storage of spent nuclear fuel (the "Continued Storage Rule"), which replaced the WCD. Several petitions for review were filed in October 2014 in the D.C. Circuit challenging the Continued Storage Rule. Administrative Proceeding Regarding Renewal of Operating License for Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. In May 2013, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League ("BREDL"), the Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team ("BEST"), and Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation filed a petition with the NRC opposing the renewal of the operating license for Sequoyah Units 1 and 2. The petition contained eight specific contentions challenging the adequacy of the license renewal application that TVA submitted to the NRC in January 2013. TVA filed a response with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ("ASLB") opposing the admission of all eight of the petitioners' contentions. In July 2013, the ASLB concluded that BREDL was the only one of the three petitioners that had standing to intervene in this proceeding. The ASLB also held that seven of the contentions were inadmissible, and held one portion of the remaining contention related to the WCD in abeyance pending further direction from the NRC. In September 2014, the ASLB denied BREDL's contention related to the WCD. Following the publication of the Continued Storage Rule, BREDL filed a petition with the NRC seeking suspension of the issuance of a final decision in the Sequoyah proceeding and a motion with the ASLB seeking leave to file a new, late-filed contention related to the Continued Storage Rule. The NRC rejected this petition in February 2015. See Case Involving the NRC Waste Confidence Decision on Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage. With the NRC’s rejection of the final pending contention, the ASLB issued an order terminating the administrative proceeding in March 2015. In April 2015, BREDL filed motions with the NRC to reopen the record and to admit a new contention arguing that the environmental impact statement for Sequoyah must incorporate by reference the generic environmental impact statement released in connection with the Continued Storage Rule. The NRC rejected these motions in June 2015. In August 2015, BREDL asked the D.C. Circuit to review the NRC's decision after the court issues a decision on BREDL's petition for review challenging the Continued Storage Rule. The NRC issued the license renewal of the facility operating licenses for both units effective September 28, 2015. Administrative Proceedings Regarding Bellefonte Units 3 and 4. TVA submitted its combined construction and operating license ("COL") application for two Advanced Passive 1000 reactors at Bellefonte Nuclear Plant ("Bellefonte") Units 3 and 4 to the NRC in October 2007. In June 2008, BEST, BREDL, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy ("SACE") submitted a joint petition for intervention and a request for a hearing. The ASLB denied standing to BEST and admitted four of the 20 contentions submitted by BREDL and SACE. The NRC reversed the ASLB's decision to admit two of the four contentions, leaving only two contentions (concerning the estimated costs of the new nuclear plant and the impact of the facility's operations on aquatic ecology) to be litigated in a future hearing. In January 2012, TVA notified the ASLB that the NRC had placed the COL in “suspended” status indefinitely at TVA's request, and TVA requested that the ASLB hold the proceeding in abeyance pending a decision by TVA regarding the best path forward with regards to the COL. In April 2012, the ASLB issued an order maintaining the proceeding in "active" status, but amending the disclosure schedule. The ASLB again modified the disclosure schedule in December 2015. Administrative Proceedings Regarding Watts Bar Unit 2. In October 2015, the NRC issued the operating license for Watts Bar Unit 2. In November 2015, SACE filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit seeking review of the issuance of the operating license for Watts Bar Unit 2. TVA moved to intervene in the proceeding in December 2015. The case has been held in abeyance while the D.C. Circuit resolves the ongoing challenge to the Continued Storage Rule. National Environmental Policy Act Challenge at Paradise Fossil Plant. To comply with the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, TVA chose to retire two coal-fired units at Paradise Fossil Plant and replace them with natural gas generation. Prior to making this decision, TVA completed an Environmental Assessment in November 2013 under National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). In July 2014, the Kentucky Coal Association and several individuals filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky alleging that TVA violated NEPA and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 in deciding to switch to natural gas generation. The plaintiffs demand that TVA prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, and are asking the court to preliminarily enjoin TVA from taking any further action relating to these matters pending compliance with NEPA. The court denied the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction in December 2014 and dismissed the case in February 2015. In March 2015, the plaintiffs appealed the court's decision to the Sixth Circuit, and in October 2015, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the court's decision. Kingston Fossil Plant NPDES Permit Administrative Appeal. The Sierra Club filed a challenge to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permit issued by Tennessee for the scrubber-gypsum pond discharge at Kingston in November 2009 before the Tennessee Board of Water Quality, Oil and Gas ("TN Board"). TDEC is the defendant in the challenge, and TVA has intervened in support of TDEC's decision to issue the permit. Bull Run Fossil Plant NPDES Permit Administrative Appeal. SACE and the TCWN filed a challenge to the NPDES permit for the Bull Run Fossil Plant in November 2010. TDEC is the defendant in the challenge, and TVA's motion to intervene to support TDEC's decision to issue the permit was granted in January 2011. At the contested case hearing in October 2013, the TN Board granted TDEC's and TVA's joint motion for involuntary dismissal following the conclusion of the petitioners' presentation of evidence. In December 2013, TCWN and SACE filed a petition for review of the TN Board's decision in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tennessee. In March 2015, the court issued a final order affirming the TN Board's decision, and the petitioners subsequently appealed the court's decision to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Gallatin Fossil Plant NPDES Permit Administrative Appeal. SACE, TCWN, and the Sierra Club filed a challenge to the NPDES permit for Gallatin in June 2012. TDEC is the defendant in the challenge. TVA's motion to intervene was granted in September 2012. Following discovery, SACE, TCWN, and the Sierra Club voluntarily dismissed seven of the eight claims asserted in their petition. TVA moved to dismiss the remaining claim, and the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") assigned to the matter granted TVA’s motion and dismissed the case. On November 7, 2014, SACE, TWCN, and the Sierra Club filed a petition for review of the ALJ's dismissal in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tennessee. In February 2015, the court issued a final order affirming that the Gallatin NPDES permit was lawfully issued. In March 2015, the petitioners appealed the court's decision to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

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