The Obama administration's 2014 budget is calling for a strategic review of the Tennessee Valley Authority, opening the possibility the federally owned utility could be sold.
TVA officials seem to have been caught off guard by the budget proposal released Wednesday. Board chairman Bill Sansom says the utility doesn't know what options the review will consider. He promises the board will "continue operating TVA in a sound financial manner" in the meantime.
Although TVA does not receive taxpayer appropriations, the utility's expenditure of borrowed funds does count in the federal deficit. The section of the budget that discusses TVA says the utility's anticipated capital needs, which include expansion of nuclear power, are likely to quickly exceed the agency's $30 billion statutory cap on indebtedness.
