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Revenue (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2019
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract] |
Revenue Recognition, Sales of Services [Policy Text Block] | Revenue from Sales of Electricity TVA's revenue from contracts with customers is primarily derived from the generation and sale of electricity to its customers and is included in Revenue from sales of electricity on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Electricity is sold primarily to LPCs for distribution to their end-use customers. In addition, TVA sells electricity to directly served industrial companies, federal agencies, and others.
LPC sales | Approximately 93 percent of TVA's revenue from sales of electricity is to LPCs, which then distribute the power to their customers using their own distribution systems. Power is delivered to each LPC at delivery points within the LPC's service territory. TVA recognizes revenue when the customer takes possession of the power at the delivery point. For power sales, the performance obligation to deliver power is satisfied in a series over time because the sales of electricity over the term of the customer contract are a series of distinct goods that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer. TVA has no continuing performance obligations subsequent to delivery. Using the output method for revenue recognition provides a faithful depiction of the transfer of electricity as customers obtain control of the power and benefit from its use at delivery. Additionally, TVA has an enforceable right to consideration for energy delivered at any discrete point in time and will recognize revenue at an amount that reflects the consideration to which TVA is entitled for the energy delivered. The amount of revenue is based on contractual prices approved by the TVA Board. Customers are invoiced monthly for power delivered as measured by meters located at the delivery points. The net transaction price is offset by certain credits available to customers that are known at the time of billing. Credits are designed to achieve objectives of the TVA Act and include items such as hydro preference credits for residential customers of LPCs, economic development credits to promote growth in the Tennessee Valley, wholesale bill credits to maintain long-term partnerships with LPCs, and interruptible credits allowing TVA to reduce industrial customer usage in periods of peak demand to balance system demand. Payments are typically due within approximately one month of invoice issuance.
Directly served customers | Directly served customers, including industrial customers, federal agencies, and other customers, take power for their own consumption. Similar to LPCs, power is delivered to a delivery point, at which time the customer takes possession and TVA recognizes revenue. For all power sales, the performance obligation to deliver power is satisfied in a series over time since the sales of electricity over the term of the customer contract are a series of distinct goods that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer. TVA has no continuing performance obligations subsequent to delivery. Using the output method for revenue recognition provides a faithful depiction of the transfer of electricity as customers obtain control of the power and benefit from its use at delivery. Additionally, TVA has an enforceable right to consideration for energy delivered at any discrete point in time and will recognize revenue at an amount that reflects the consideration to which TVA is entitled for the energy delivered. The amount of revenue is based on contractual prices approved by the TVA Board. Customers are invoiced monthly for power delivered as measured by meters located at the delivery points. The net transaction price is offset by certain credits available to customers that are known at the time of billing. Examples of credits include items such as economic development credits to promote growth in the Tennessee Valley and interruptible credits allowing TVA to reduce industrial customer usage in periods of peak demand to balance system demand. Payments are typically due within approximately one month of invoice issuance.
Energy Prepayment Obligations | Energy Prepayment Obligations In 2004, TVA and its largest customer, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division ("MLGW"), entered into an energy prepayment agreement under which MLGW prepaid TVA $1.5 billion for the future costs of electricity to be delivered by TVA to MLGW over a period of 180 months. TVA accounted for the prepayment as unearned revenue and reported the obligation to deliver power under this arrangement as Energy prepayment obligations and Current portion of energy prepayment obligations on the September 30, 2018 Consolidated Balance Sheet. The arrangement ceased in 2019. Revenue was recognized in each year of the arrangement as electricity was delivered to MLGW based on the ratio of units of kilowatt hours delivered to total units of kilowatt hours under contract. As of September 30, 2019, $1.5 billion had been recognized as non-cash revenue on a cumulative basis during the life of the agreement, $10 million and $100 million of which was recognized as non-cash revenue during 2019 and 2018, respectively. Discounts to account for the time value of money, which are recorded as a reduction to electricity sales, amounted to $4 million and $46 million for the years ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Revenues TVA recognizes revenue from contracts with customers to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. For the generation and transmission of electricity, this is generally at the time the power is delivered to a metered customer delivery point for the customer's consumption or distribution. As a result, revenues from power sales are recorded as electricity is delivered to customers. In addition to power sales invoiced and recorded during the month, TVA accrues estimated unbilled revenues for power sales provided to five customers whose billing date occurs prior to the end of the month. Exchange power sales are presented in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations as a component of sales of electricity. Exchange power sales are sales of excess power after meeting TVA native load and directly served requirements. Native load refers to the customers on whose behalf a company, by statute, franchise, regulatory requirement, or contract, has undertaken an obligation to serve. TVA engages in other arrangements in addition to power sales. Certain other revenue from activities related to TVA's overall mission are recorded in Other revenue. Revenues that are not related to the overall mission are recorded in Other income (expense), net. Other Revenue Other revenue consists primarily of wheeling and network transmission charges, sales of excess steam that is a by-product of power production, delivery point charges for interconnection points between TVA and the customer, and certain other ancillary goods or services.
Disaggregation of Revenue [Table Text Block] | Disaggregated Revenue In 2019, the revenues generated from TVA's electricity sales were $11.2 billion and accounted for virtually all of TVA's revenues. TVA's revenues by state for each of the last three years are detailed in the table below:
Operating Revenues By State For the years ended September 30 (in millions)
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
Alabama | $ | 1,593 |  |  | $ | 1,600 |  |  | $ | 1,524 |
Georgia | 270 |  |  | 267 |  |  | 252 |
Kentucky | 691 |  |  | 696 |  |  | 665 |
Mississippi | 1,063 |  |  | 1,052 |  |  | 1,016 |
North Carolina | 74 |  |  | 66 |  |  | 57 |
Tennessee | 7,419 |  |  | 7,350 |  |  | 7,041 |
Virginia | 45 |  |  | 48 |  |  | 47 |
Subtotal | 11,155 |  |  | 11,079 |  |  | 10,602 |
Off-system sales | 4 |  |  | 7 |  |  | 6 |
Revenue capitalized during pre-commercial plant operations(1) | — |  |  | (11 | ) |  | (22 | )
Revenue from sales of electricity | 11,159 |  |  | 11,075 |  |  | 10,586 |
Other revenues | 159 |  |  | 158 |  |  | 153 |
Total operating revenues | $ | 11,318 |  |  | $ | 11,233 |  |  | $ | 10,739 |
Note (1) Represents revenue capitalized during pre-commercial operations of $11 million at Allen CC in 2018 and $22 million at Watts Bar Unit 2, Paradise CC, and Allen CC in 2017. See Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Pre-Commercial Plant Operations. TVA's revenues by customer type for each of the last three years are detailed in the table below:
Operating Revenues by Customer Type For the years ended September 30 (in millions)
| 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017
Revenue from sales of electricity |  |  |  |  |
Local power companies | $ | 10,351 |  |  | $ | 10,262 |  |  | $ | 9,741 |
Industries directly served | 686 |  |  | 695 |  |  | 735 |
Federal agencies and other | 122 |  |  | 129 |  |  | 132 |
Revenue capitalized during pre-commercial plant operations(1) | — |  |  | (11 | ) |  | (22 | )
Revenue from sales of electricity | 11,159 |  |  | 11,075 |  |  | 10,586 |
Other revenues | 159 |  |  | 158 |  |  | 153 |
Total operating revenues | $ | 11,318 |  |  | $ | 11,233 |  |  | $ | 10,739 |
Note (1) Represents revenue capitalized during pre-commercial operations of $11 million at Allen CC in 2018 and $22 million at Watts Bar Unit 2, Paradise CC, and Allen CC in 2017. See Note 1 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Pre-Commercial Plant Operations. TVA and LPCs continue to work together to meet the changing needs of consumers around the Tennessee Valley. At its August 2019 meeting, the TVA Board approved a 20-year Partnership Agreement option that better aligns the length of LPC contracts with TVA's long-term commitments. These agreements are automatically extended each year after their initial effective date. Participating LPCs will receive benefits including a 3.1 percent wholesale bill credit in exchange for their long-term commitment, which enables TVA to recover its long-term financial commitments over a commensurate period. As of September 30, 2019, 131 LPCs had signed the 20-year Partnership Agreement with TVA. The number of LPCs with the contract arrangements described below, the revenues derived from such arrangements during 2019, and the percentage of TVA's total operating revenues during 2019 represented by these revenues are summarized in the tables below:
TVA Local Power Company Contracts At or for the year ended September 30, 2019
Contract Arrangements(1) | Number of LPCs |  | Revenue from Sales of Electricity to LPCs (in millions) |  | Percentage of Total Operating Revenues
20-year termination notice | 131 |  |  | $ | 6,350 |  |  | 56.1 | %
10-year termination notice | 5 |  |  | 938 |  |  | 8.3 | %
5-year termination notice | 18 |  |  | 3,063 |  |  | 27.1 | %
Total | 154 |  |  | $ | 10,351 |  |  | 91.5 | %
Note (1) Ordinarily, the LPCs and TVA have the same termination notice period; however, in contracts with three of the LPCs with five-year termination notices, TVA has a 10-year termination notice (which becomes a five-year termination notice if TVA loses its discretionary wholesale rate-setting authority). Two of the LPCs have five-year termination notices or a shorter period if any act of Congress, court decision, or regulatory change requires or permits that election. TVA's two largest LPCs — MLGW and Nashville Electric Service ("NES") — have contracts with a five-year and a 20-year termination notice period, respectively. Sales to MLGW and NES accounted for nine percent and eight percent, respectively, of TVA's total operating revenues in 2019.
Contract with Customer, Asset and Liability [Table Text Block] | Contract Balances Contract assets represent an entity's right to consideration in exchange for goods and services that the entity has transferred to customers. TVA does not have any material contract assets as of September 30, 2019. Contract liabilities represent an entity's obligations to transfer goods or services to customers for which the entity has received consideration (or an amount of consideration is due) from the customers. These contract liabilities are primarily related to upfront consideration received prior to the satisfaction of the performance obligation.
Revenue Recognition, Incentives [Policy Text Block] | Economic Development Incentives. Under certain economic development programs, TVA offers incentives to existing and potential power customers in certain business sectors that make multi-year commitments to invest in the Tennessee Valley. TVA records those incentives as reductions of revenue. Incentives recorded as a reduction to revenue were $310 million and $276 million during 2019 and 2018, respectively. Incentives that have been approved but have not been paid are recorded in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities and Other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. At September 30, 2019 and 2018, the outstanding unpaid incentives were $157 million and $145 million, respectively. These incentives may be subject to clawback provisions if the customers fail to meet certain program requirements.
Energy Prepayment Obligation [Table Text Block] | Energy Prepayment Obligations. In 2004, TVA and its largest customer, MLGW, entered into an energy prepayment agreement under which MLGW prepaid TVA $1.5 billion for the future costs of electricity to be delivered by TVA to MLGW over a period of 15 years. TVA accounted for the prepayment as unearned revenue and reported the obligation to deliver power under this arrangement as Energy prepayment obligations and Current portion of energy prepayment obligations on the September 30, 2018 Consolidated Balance Sheet. The arrangement ceased in 2019. TVA recognized approximately $100 million of noncash revenue in each year of the arrangement as electricity was delivered to MLGW based on the ratio of units of kilowatt hours delivered to total units of kilowatt hours under contract. As of September 30, 2019, $1.5 billion had been recognized as noncash revenue on a cumulative basis during the life of the agreement, $100 million of which was recognized as noncash revenue and a corresponding reduction in the balance of Energy prepayment obligations during 2018. During 2019, $10 million was recognized as noncash revenue and a corresponding reduction in the balance of Energy prepayment obligations. Discounts to account for the time value of money, which were recorded as a reduction to electricity sales, amounted to $4 million and $46 million during 2019 and 2018, respectively.

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