The Tennessee Valley Authority provided a record $579 million in tax equivalent payments in fiscal year 2012 to states and local governments where it sells electricity or has power properties.

TVA pays tax equivalent payments annually in the eight states where it sells electricity or owns generating plants, transmission lines, substations and other assets, and directly to 146 local governments where TVA owns power facilities.

"These funds provided by TVA play a significant role in the continued economic development, improved quality of life, and strong community growth across TVA’s service region,” said TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore. “The payments also are an important part of TVA’s mission to help the consumers we serve every day.”

The TVA board of directors at its Nov. 15 meeting in Scottsboro, Ala., approved the final tax equivalent payment for fiscal year 2012. This year’s payments totaled $49 million more than 2011.

The following payments were made to each state in fiscal year 2012:

· Alabama - $122,665,588

· Georgia - $9,409,090

· Illinois - $550,070

· Kentucky - $46,755,942

· Mississippi - $40,878,879

· North Carolina - $2,837,202

· Tennessee - $354,389,772

· Virginia - $1,534,406

· Total - $ $579,020,949

The TVA board also approved estimated tax equivalent payments of $536 million for fiscal year 2013. That reduced estimate is attributed to a slow economy and less TVA power sales revenues due to milder, warmer weather last winter resulting in less electricity used for heating.

TVA returns five percent of power sales revenues from the previous year in the form of tax equivalent payments. The funds are distributed in monthly payments, with final payments approved at the end of each fiscal year.

The payments compensate state and local governments that cannot levy property or sales taxes on TVA as a federal entity, and make TVA one of the largest “taxpayers” in Tennessee and Alabama. In addition to the seven states and many counties in the Tennessee Valley region, the state of Illinois and two of its counties receive payments for coal reserves TVA owns there.

State and local governments distribute the funds according to their own formulas and discretion to support a variety of initiatives, including schools, fire departments and other emergency response agencies, tourism and recreation, and human service organizations. 

Since 1941, TVA has made more than $10.3 billion in tax equivalent payments, with payments in the past 10 years totaling $4.4 billion.