Involuntary layoffs are coming at the Tennessee Valley Authority, as part of an effort to cut operating annual expenses by $500 million.
TVA spokesman Duncan Mansfield said the power giant is "about halfway" toward the sustainable $500 million reduction. So far, 750 employees have left TVA voluntarily under a severance package that gave them one week’s pay for every year served. That deal topped out at a maximum of 30 weeks' pay for 30 years of service. The company has also identified 1,000 vacant positions that will not be filled.
Mansfield said the cuts have been hard to make, but necessary.
“Our expenses have been high and we need to reduce them going forward to keep electric rates low for the Tennessee Valley,” Mansfield said.
Mansfield said there has also been an industry-wide decrease in power consumption, which has affected TVA revenues.
Cuts later this year are expected to come to TVA’s nuclear program, which has not yet received cuts and is going through restructuring.
Meanwhile, TVA reported Tuesday morning that operating revenues for a six-month period ending March 31 were unchanged from a year ago.
