Article from Chattanooga Times Free Press written by Dave Flessner
Power sales to major industries in the Tennessee Valley rose 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 as manufacturers continued to rebound from the pandemic.
Despite an overall drop in power consumption last year, especially among many hard-hit commercial businesses, the Tennessee Valley Authority said electricity consumption by its direct-served manufacturers bounced back at the end of last year and is remaining strong in 2021.
At a meeting earlier this week among members of the Tennessee Valley Industrial Group, manufacturing representatives unanimously said their business is doing better at the start of 2021.
In the final three months of 2020, TVA said it helped attract $2.3 billion in investments and more than 32,100 jobs.
The lower rates and milder weather reduced TVA’s operating revenues in the three-month fiscal period by 11% compared with the same period a year earlier. TVA reported net income in the latest fiscal quarter of $184 million. Although that was down slightly from the $192 million earned in the same period a year earlier, the profits were still more than double the $72 million that TVA projected it would earn during the period in its budget plan for fiscal 2021.
With lower debt and less demand to build expensive new generating capacity, TVA forecasts that it will keep its base electric rates stable for the next decade.