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Contingencies and Legal Proceedings | 6 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies and Legal Proceedings | 21. Contingencies and Legal Proceedings Contingencies Nuclear Insurance. Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act, commonly known as the Price-Anderson Act, provides a layered framework of financial protection to compensate for liability claims of members of the public for personal injury and property damages arising from a nuclear incident in the U.S. This financial protection consists of two layers of coverage. The primary level is private insurance underwritten by American Nuclear Insurers and provides public liability insurance coverage of $500 million for each nuclear power plant licensed to operate. If this amount is not sufficient to cover claims arising from a nuclear incident, the second level, Secondary Financial Protection, applies. Within the Secondary Financial Protection level, the licensee of each nuclear reactor has a contingent obligation to pay a retrospective premium, equal to its proportionate share of the loss in excess of the primary level, regardless of proximity to the incident of fault, up to a maximum of approximately $166 million per reactor per incident. With TVA's seven reactors, the maximum total contingent obligation per incident is $1.2 billion. This retrospective premium is payable at a maximum rate currently set at approximately $25 million per year per nuclear incident per reactor. Currently, 95 reactors are participating in the Secondary Financial Protection program. In the event that a nuclear incident results in public liability claims, the primary level provided by American Nuclear Insurers combined with the Secondary Financial Protection should provide up to $16.3 billion in coverage. Federal law requires that each Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") power reactor licensee obtain property insurance from private sources to cover the cost of stabilizing and decontaminating a reactor and its station site after an accident. TVA carries property, decommissioning liability, and decontamination liability insurance from Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited ("NEIL") and European Mutual Association for Nuclear Insurance. The limits available for a loss are up to $2.1 billion for two of TVA's nuclear sites and up to $2.8 billion for the remaining site. Some of this insurance may require the payment of retrospective premiums up to a maximum of approximately $115 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) with a maximum indemnity of $490 million per unit. This insurance policy may require the payment of retrospective premiums up to a maximum of approximately $44 million, but only to the extent the retrospective premium is deemed necessary by the NEIL Board of Directors to pay losses unable to be covered by NEIL's surplus. Decommissioning Costs. TVA recognizes legal obligations associated with the future retirement of certain tangible long-lived assets related primarily to nuclear generating plants, coal-fired generating plants, hydroelectric generating plants/dams, transmission structures, and other property-related assets. See Note 12 — Asset Retirement Obligations. Nuclear Decommissioning. Provision for decommissioning costs of nuclear generating units is based on options authorized by the NRC procedures to dismantle and decontaminate the facilities to meet the NRC criteria for license termination. At March 31, 2025, $3.9 billion, representing the discounted value of future estimated nuclear decommissioning costs, was included in nuclear 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 differences in the underlying assumptions. TVA bases its nuclear decommissioning estimates on site-specific cost studies. The most recent study was approved and implemented in September 2022. Site-specific cost studies are updated for each of TVA's nuclear units at least every five years. TVA maintains an NDT to provide funding for the ultimate decommissioning of its nuclear power plants. See Note 15 — Fair Value Measurements — Investment Funds. 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 and additional contributions, if necessary, will be available to support decommissioning. TVA's operating nuclear power units are licensed through various dates between 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. See Note 9 — Regulatory Assets and Liabilities and Note 12 — Asset Retirement Obligations. Non-nuclear Decommissioning. At March 31, 2025, $7.0 billion, representing the discounted value of future estimated non-nuclear decommissioning costs, was included in non-nuclear AROs. 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 updates its underlying assumptions for non-nuclear decommissioning AROs at least every five years. However, material changes in underlying assumptions that impact the amount and timing of undiscounted cash flows are continuously monitored and incorporated into ARO balances in the period identified. TVA maintains an ART to help fund the ultimate decommissioning of its non-nuclear power assets. See Note 15 — Fair Value Measurements — Investment Funds. Estimates involved in determining if additional funding will be made to the ART include inflation rate, rate of return projections on the fund investments, and the planned use of other sources to fund decommissioning costs. See Note 9 — Regulatory Assets and Liabilities and Note 12 — Asset Retirement Obligations. Environmental Matters. TVA's generation activities, like those across the utility industry and in other industrial sectors, are subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. Major areas of regulation affecting TVA's activities include air quality control, greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions, water quality control, and management and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. Regulations in these major areas have become more stringent in recent years and have had 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 and natural gas-fired generating units in general and emissions of pollutants from those units. Failure to comply with environmental and safety requirements can result in enforcement actions and litigation, which can lead to the imposition of significant civil liability, including fines and penalties, criminal sanctions, and/or temporary or permanent closure of non-compliant facilities. Historical non-compliance can also lead to difficulty in renewing existing permits, as well as difficulty in obtaining permits to bring new generation facilities online. Other obstacles to renewal or permitting of new facilities include a proliferation of non-government organizations seeking to use litigation tools to drive up costs associated with, and delay or prevent permitting of, new fossil fuel facilities and related infrastructure in favor of renewable energy projects. Compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") 2015 CCR rule, as revised ("2015 CCR Rule") required implementation of a groundwater monitoring program, additional engineering, evaluation of authorized closure methods, coordination with certain state authorities, and ongoing analysis at each TVA CCR unit. As further analyses are performed, including evaluation of monitoring results, there is the potential for additional costs for investigation and/or remediation. In addition, on May 8, 2024, EPA published its Legacy CCR Rule, which expands the scope of the existing regulatory requirements of the 2015 CCR Rule to include two additional classes of CCR units: Legacy Surface Impoundments and Coal Combustion Residual Management Units. As a result of the enactment of the final rule, during 2024, TVA recorded additional estimated AROs and recorded a corresponding regulatory asset due to AROs being associated with closed sites and asset retirement costs having been fully depreciated. However, the amounts recorded are subject to various uncertainties, and actual amounts may differ materially based upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the outcome of legal challenges to the Legacy CCR Rule, ongoing evaluations of the number and scope of newly regulated units, determinations on final closure requirements and performance standards, and possible changes to the Legacy CCR Rule by EPA. In May 2024, EPA also published (1) a final rule that establishes more stringent technology-based effluent limitations for four wastewater streams from coal-fired plants, (2) a rule that strengthens and updates the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for electric generating units to reflect recent developments in control technologies, and (3) a rule that establishes GHG emission guidelines for existing coal-fired plants and GHG performance standards for new natural gas-fired power plants. These rules are all currently being reconsidered by EPA and are also all subject to legal challenges. If these rules move forward as written and the challenges are not successful, TVA would incur substantial costs to comply with the rules. Liability for releases, natural resource damages, and required cleanup of hazardous substances is primarily regulated by the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), and other federal and parallel state statutes. In a manner similar to many other governmental entities, industries, and power systems, TVA has generated or used hazardous substances over the years. TVA operations at some facilities have resulted in releases of contaminants that TVA has addressed or is addressing consistent with state and federal requirements. At March 31, 2025, and September 30, 2024, TVA's estimated liability for required cleanup and similar environmental work for those sites for which sufficient information is available to develop a cost estimate was $10 million and $15 million, respectively, on a non-discounted basis, and was included in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities and Other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Additionally, the potential inclusion of new hazardous substances under CERCLA and RCRA jurisdiction could significantly affect TVA's future liability for remediating historical releases. In August 2015, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation ("TDEC") issued an order that includes an iterative process through which TVA and TDEC will identify and evaluate any CCR contamination risks and, if necessary, respond to such risks. TVA is also following a similar process pursuant to a consent order. At March 31, 2025, and September 30, 2024, TVA's estimated liability for costs associated with environmental remediation activities for the sites covered by these orders for which sufficient information is available to develop a cost estimate was approximately $276 million and $215 million, respectively, on a non-discounted basis and was included in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities and Other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The current estimated time frame for work related to these remediation activities for which TVA has a cost estimate is through 2044. 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. There have been no material changes to the Legal Proceedings described in Note 22 — Commitments and Contingencies — Legal Proceedings of the Annual Report, except as described below. Case Involving Johnsonville Aeroderivative Combustion Turbine Project. On December 22, 2022, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on behalf of the Sierra Club, alleging that TVA violated the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") in deciding to build a new aeroderivative combustion turbine project at its Johnsonville facility. Both parties moved for summary judgment, and on September 30, 2024, the court granted TVA's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the lawsuit. The Sierra Club did not file an appeal within 60 days from the date of the decision, so this litigation has now ended. See Note 22 — Commitments and Contingencies — Legal Proceedings — Case Involving Johnsonville Aeroderivative Combustion Turbine Project in the Annual Report. Case Involving Kingston Gas-Fired Plant. On October 10, 2024, Appalachian Voices, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee alleging that TVA violated NEPA and TVA's least-cost planning obligations in deciding to build a gas plant at its Kingston Facility. TVA filed its response on December 16, 2024. TVA cannot predict the outcome of this litigation. See Note 22 — Commitments and Contingencies — Legal Proceedings — Case Involving Kingston Gas-Fired Plant in the Annual Report. Challenge to Kingston Construction Permit. On December 16, 2024, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed an appeal on behalf of Appalachian Voices challenging the construction permit that the Technical Secretary acting on behalf of the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board issued to TVA on November 15, 2024, for the construction of natural gas generation at Kingston. Appalachian Voices alleges that TDEC unlawfully issued a construction permit that would allow TVA to construct the plant without meeting the requirements set forth in the Tennessee Air Quality Act's and Federal Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration program. Among other things, Appalachian Voices is requesting that the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board stay the effectiveness of the permit and order TDEC to revoke the permit. On January 7, 2025, TVA filed a petition to intervene in the administrative proceeding, which was granted on January 15, 2025. The parties filed competing motions for summary judgement on March 14, 2025. TVA cannot predict the outcome of this litigation. Challenge to Certificate for Cumberland Pipeline. On April 29, 2024, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") challenging FERC’s issuance of a certificate of public convenience for the pipeline that will need to be constructed in order for TVA to operate the Cumberland Combined Cycle Plant (the “Cumberland Pipeline”). The petitioners allege that they and their members have been and will be aggrieved by the approval, construction, and operation of the Cumberland Pipeline and are asking the D.C. Circuit to review and set aside FERC’s order approving the pipeline. The D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments on the merits on March 4, 2025, but has not yet issued a ruling. TVA, the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., which has contracted with TVA to build and operate the pipeline, have intervened in the proceeding. TVA cannot predict the outcome of this litigation.

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