It is a sad day in the Tennessee Valley again, the regular guys get abused by big daddy government. TVA just recently handed the consumers a 20% increase in our electric bill and turns around in the same month and hands TVA President Tom Kilgore an over 23% increase.

Yes, I read all the bull that the board of directors said. We must keep our exec's pay in line with other CEO''s in the industry. Just a couple of problems with this.

First, Mr. Kilgore was asleep at the wheel. He just woke up one day and said, “Oh, my gosh, we are spending more than we are taking in and we need a two or three or five percent increase.” No, he was taking a long nap and got up and said we need a 20% increase. Wow, he is really on top of things. Let’s give him a raise.

Second, look at our nation's CEOs and ask yourself, do they (some not all) need to be making that money and run their companies in the ground and then have the government to bail them out? TVA board of directors, what rock are you living under? Have you missed some news lately about the economy? You made a bad decision.

Glen Meadows
Chattanooga

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I find it disappointing that people make comments about TVA when they have little or no knowledge of the company, or of the people that manage it. I have been a TVA employee for over 10 years and I am still learning about the entire scope of TVA's responsibilities. I can tell you the people of the Tennessee Valley are fortunate to have top level managers that are some of the best in the business. Mr. Kilgore and his management team lead this company with a positive vision for the future, both for the company and the customers who rely on TVA for power.

In order for TVA to maintain high standards and reliability in their operations, we need people of high caliber who practice those standards and lead by example. Mr. Kilgore is such a person.

Zach Wamp himself acknowledged that an outside consulting firm researched
the industry and stated that the salary and compensation package given to Mr. Kilgore was 45 percent of the standard pay in the private sector. Let me ask you this, Mr. Meadows, would you work for $45,000 a year when everyone else doing the same job was making $100,000 a year? That is the same basic math equivalent of Mr. Kilgore's salary compared to the industry average. Again, we are fortunate to have Mr. Kilgore as our CEO and he deserves to be properly compensated for the responsibilities he has and the work he performs.

It would be greatly appreciated by everyone if you, and others of the same opinion, would research and study 'all' the facts more thoroughly so you can make a better informed comment. However, considering Congressman Wamp's comments referred to in the business section of this publication, even well informed people make senseless remarks when they want to be a "good ole boy" in the eyes of their public.

Tom Donelson
Hixson

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The Tennessee Valley Authority is a governmental corporation. Presently, the TVA has a debt of $30 billion. Yes, billion. TVA finances their debt through issuing bonds that are allegedly backed by the U.S. government. This system makes every taxpaying citizen a potential stakeholder in the TVA.

All TVA employees receive U.S. Treasury paychecks just as those citizens who work for any other federal government agency. Thus, to work for the TVA is the same as working for the Pentagon, but TVA is able to insulate themselves from governmental oversight by asserting they do not receive governmental funding. This argument doesn't hold water if you consider that the US government and all taxpayers are the loser if TVA goes bankrupt.

In the past few years the TVA has been embroiled in numerous lawsuits, regulatory actions, and environmental violations. Of all corporations under the jurisdiction of the US Department of labor the TVA ranks #1 in whistle blower retaliations cases. The TVA hasn't made payments to their retirement system in the past couple of years citing serious budget shortfalls. From lapsed security at their nuclear plants to illegal emissions at their fossil plants the TVA shows consistently that they are no longer the stewards of our Tennessee Valley as they have been in the past. The TVA Board has shown their total lack of fortitude by allowing themselves to be fooled during a time when our country is embroiled in a war against our way of life.

Recently, the TVA raised electrical rates 20% due to rising fuel costs. Since TVA produces 75% of their electricity from burning coal any cost increase in coal is passed on to consumers. Instead of investing in modernization at their coal plants by investing in more efficient equipment that reduce the amount of coal needed to produce a defined amount of electricity the TVA embarked upon a end source reduction plan and installed equipment that further results in more coal needed to produce that same amount of electricity. There is no vision at TVA. Upper level managers are only concerned with how much money they can take home from the TVA at the expense of the ratepayer.

The payment to Mr. Kilgore, if earned honestly, is a reward for hard work. If though, Mr. Kilgore is not reporting the true state of the TVA to the TVA Board, a serious fraud occurring. Mr. Kilgore is not the CEO of a normal corporation, as Mr. Donelson would suggest. Mr. Kilgore is an agent for the U.S. government. The job of Mr. Kilgore is to ensure the assets of the U.S. government are being watched over and cared for to the best of his ability.

Steve Durham freethinker1963@yahoo.com