External Organizations Board Practice

In response to requests from stakeholders, we scheduled an evaluation to determine if the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) complied with the 2016 Board Practice regarding memberships in external organizations. We found no evidence TVA was out of compliance with the TVA Memberships in External Organizations Board Practice. We did not identify any evidence of direct lobbying or litigation on behalf of TVA; however, the external organizations do not administratively segregate TVA’s funds, so we were unable to determine if the funds were used for lobbying or litigation. We also found all contracts or membership agreements contained required language limiting the use of TVA funds for prohibited activities such as litigation or lobbying; however, TVA does not have a contract or membership agreement with one external organization. We also identified opportunities for improvement related to TVA’s management of memberships in external organizations. Specifically, we determined TVA could (1) provide training of employees participating in committee or leadership roles in external organizations and (2) benefit from the coordination of all memberships in external organizations with the Office of the General Counsel to confirm all legal and ethical requirements are met.