TVA on pace for $500 million in budget cuts after eliminating 2,000 jobs

TVA building
TVA building
photo Bill Johnson is seen during a TVA board meeting in February 2014. Johnson became president of TVA after being fired following Duke's merger with Progress, where he was the chief executive.

TVA has cut nearly 2,000 jobs from its staff over the past couple of years, cutting TVA's staff below 11,000 employees for the first time in decades.

TVA President Bill Johnson said today the agency has pared from its budget $400 million in ongoing maintenance and operating expenses since fiscal 2013 and anticipates cutting at least another $100 million from operating costs this year. But in a conference call with industry analysts and reporters, Johnson said most of the additional cuts planned this year "are baked into the budgets" and should be achieved by the end of the fiscal year in September.

"If we just follow our plan and stick to our budget, we should achieve that number," Johnson said.

TVA had 12.800 employees a couple of years ago but has pared that now to about 10,900 employees, Johnson said.

Johnson, who took over as TVA CEO in January 2013, set a goal two years ago of cutting $500 million in annual operating expenses by the end of fiscal 2015.

"We started by focusing on the work we have to do every day and then aligning an organization around that work," Johnson. "We did this is a very thoughtful way and constructed a budget to take us to a place where we could live within our means."

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