Nature is giving a reprieve to electricity users in the Tennessee Valley. With the end of the drought and abundant rainfall, the Tennessee Valley Authority is getting 45 percent more generation from its hydroelectric dams in the current fiscal year, helping to cut its fuel costs for consumers.
TVA said Thursday that its fuel cost adjustment will be cut for the eighth time in the past year.
The typical household electric bill will drop anywhere from 50 cents to $1 in February, TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said.
Bank’s profit hits $3 million
CapitalMark Bank & Trust reported a $3 million profit last year compared to a loss of more than $1.7 million the preceding year.
“We are pleased once again to post record earnings, despite the difficult economic and credit environment,” said R. Craig Holley, CapitalMark’s chairman, president and CEO. “During 2010, we will carry on our strategy of very measured loan growth while accelerating the growth of our core funding base.”
He said credit quality measures for the Chattanooga-based bank remain favorable when compared to industry averages. He said the bank had improved all its capital ratios quarter over quarter and maintains capital levels that exceed those for “well-capitalized banks under applicable regulatory guidelines.”
Additionally, he said assets increased 16.7 percent last year to $391.9 million. Deposits were up 18 percent, ending the year at $335.6 million.
Mr. Holley said the “weak economy continues to affect some of our borrowers.
“We expect operating earnings to trend upward, but future earnings will be determined by near-term loan loss provision levels.”
NRC upgrades Bellefonte status
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is upgrading the construction permit at TVA’s Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, but licensing director Eric Leeds said the mvoe “is just one step in a long list of actions” TVA must complete to finish the idled Alabama plant.
The NRC staff approved the Tennessee Valley Authority’s request to change the unfinished Bellefonte Unit 1 and 2 reactors from “terminated” to “deferred” status.
NRC officials said the change will let TVA further evaluate the completing of the two reactors. Construction work was suspended at the plant in 1988 and the TVA board is scheduled to decide in April whether to revive construction and finish the original plant or pursue another design at the site.
Staff Reports