Tennessee Valley Authority

Rate Authority

The TVA Act gives the TVA Board sole responsibility for establishing the rates TVA charges for power. These rates are not subject to judicial review or to review or approval by any state or other federal regulatory body. Under the TVA Act, TVA is required to charge rates for power that will produce gross revenues sufficient to provide funds for:

•Operation, maintenance, and administration of its power system;

•Payments to states and counties in lieu of taxes ("tax equivalents");

•Debt service on outstanding indebtedness;

•Payments to the United States Department of the Treasury ("U.S. Treasury") in repayment of and as a return on the government's appropriation investment in TVA's power facilities (the "Power Program Appropriation Investment"); and

•Such additional margin as the TVA Board may consider desirable for investment in power system assets, retirement of outstanding Bonds in advance of their maturity, additional reduction of the Power Program Appropriation Investment, and other purposes connected with TVA's power business, having due regard for the primary objectives of the TVA Act, including the objective that power shall be sold at rates as low as are feasible. See Note 24 — Related Parties.

TVA fulfilled its requirement to repay $1.0 billion of the Power Program Appropriation Investment in 2014; therefore, the

repayment of this amount is no longer a component of rate setting.

Rate Methodology

TVA uses a seasonal time of use wholesale rate structure comprised of base demand and energy rates, a fuel rate, and agrid access charge ("GAC"). In setting the base rates, TVA uses adebt-service coverage methodology to derive annual revenue requirements in a manner similar to that used by other public power entities that also use the debt-service coverage rate methodology. Under the debt-service coverage methodology, rates are calculated so that an entity will be able to cover its operating costs and to satisfy its obligations to pay principal and interest on debt, plus an additional margin. This ratemaking approach is particularly suitable for use by entities financed primarily, if not entirely, by debt, such as TVA, and helps ensure that TVA produces gross revenues sufficient to fund requirements specified in the TVA Act listed under Rate Authority above. TVA's rate structure includes a focus on TVA's long-term pricing by aligning rates with underlying cost drivers.

TVA recovers fuel costs and tax equivalent payments associated with fuel cost adjustments through a monthly rate reflecting the forecasted costs of fuel. Fuel costs are allocated to three groups of customers: (1) Standard Service (residential and small commercial customers), (2) large general service customers with contract demands greater than 5 MW, and (3) large manufacturing customers with contract demands greater than 5 MW. Fuel costs are allocated to these three classes of customers in relation to their hourly loads and TVA's hourly incremental dispatch cost. Total monthly fuel costs include costs for natural gas, fuel oil, coal, purchased power, emission allowances, nuclear fuel, and other fuel-related commodities as well as realized gains and losses on derivatives purchased to hedge the costs of such commodities.