The Tennessee Valley Authority told President Donald Trump that it would reduce compensation across its workforce by up to $153 million next year in cuts that will mostly hit executives while reducing the maximum performance-based portion of all employee pay.
The chair of the TVA board sent a written response to Trump in late May outlining the changes — many of which were in place before the president’s memo in March calling for a $500,000 compensation limit across the entire agency.
TVA, the largest government-owned power provider in the U.S., is the fifth-largest employer in the Chattanooga area. The agency employs nearly 3,750 people in the area, according to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
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The compensation limit Trump suggested would almost certainly hit wallets in Chattanooga. The agency has around 230 employees with $500,000 in total compensation in a year when it meets its highest performance goals, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported in March. Chattanooga is home to the Knoxville-based agency’s power operations hub and several of its top managers.