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Southern Alliance for Clean Energy asks TVA to expand audit on aircraft

SACE, or the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said it believes the audit was "far too narrow in scope."

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has asked the Tennessee Valley Authority to expand an audit and open an investigation into the purchase and use of TVA aircraft.

A report filed last month by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Office of Inspector General Thursday states TVA's reasons for buying two new fixed-wing aircraft were not justified.

MORE: TVA responds to Inspector General's audit that found jet purchase not justified

SACE, or the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said it believes the audit was "far too narrow in scope."

The letter, which is directed to TVA Acting Inspector General Jill Matthews, requests a formal investigation that includes all aircraft owned and operated by TVA from the start of 2013 to the present.

"By limiting the scope of IG's findings, the audit failed to identify the full extent to which TVA may have engaged in fraud and/or waste and whether TVA has violated federal and corporate guidelines and requirements pertaining to the purchase and use of aircraft by federal agencies," the letter from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Executive Director Stephen A. Smith said.

The March 2018 audit focuses on July 2015 to February 2017 and states TVA paid $17.7 million for the FWA or fixed-wing aircraft, including $11,211,762 for a Cessna Citation XLS+ jet and $6,457,675 for a King Air 350i turboprop.

SACE requested an expanded audit to include the purchase and patterns of two additional aircraft: "a luxury helicopter (N482AE) purchased in 2015 and a second Cessna Citation jet (N561PG) purchased in 2017."

To read the full audit, click here.

In the letter to Matthews, SACE wants the new investigation to determine "whether CEO Bill Johnson, TVA executives, or TVA Board members may have engaged in fraud and/or abuse and whether any violation of federal or company statutes or policies occurred through their use of TVA aircraft."

SACE submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on February 12 and allegedly got a response on March 14 stating TVA could not complete the request within the twenty-day time period because the request "involves confidential business information from an outside source."

Both SACE’s FOIA request and TVA’s response can be read here.

TVA provided Channel 10 the following statement in response to the SACE request:

"TVA is committed to continuous improvement and appreciates the work of the Office of the Inspector General. We agree with the OIG’s recommendations from a recent audit of our fixed-wing aircraft, although we disagree with some of their conclusions. We have already begun to implement many of their suggested improvements. In particular, we recognize the need to improve our documentation, which contributed to many of the OIG’s questions. A thorough review of the flights in question validated that all were for official travel, supporting the auditor’s conclusion that there was no intentional violation of laws or regulations. In cases where passengers were not directly supporting TVA business during official travel, imputed income standards consistent with federal regulations were applied. We are continuing to strengthen our policies and procedures to ensure all our flight operations are properly documented."

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