intern

mechanic

electrician

plant operator

machinist

Tennessee Valley Authority

My experience was one of being just plain ol’ disappointed …  I had wanted to work, here, since I was very young.  But, I was also pleased to have seen a veteran TVA employee of 33+ years cite many of the same issues as my own, as well as so many other individual review claiming similar experiences:  It seemingly exonerated me.  In summary, though, my experience was one of having encountered very few TVA employees (not contractors, but employees) that genuinely cared about the heart and soul of TVA … its mission … its customers … its history … etc.  A vast majority of the folks with whom I worked were “good folks,” but they were simply not interested in TVA:  One group seemed to be focused on their own growth and were ego-driven, whereas a second and much, MUCH larger group was focused on their paychecks, their employment benefits and, then, their retirement.  You’re probably thinking, “Well, yeah …”  But, there was no genuine connection to the organization.  I, for example, looked forward to the “TVA Today” articles celebrating TVA’s heritage and service orientation; however, my colleagues could not have cared any less — and they told me this, as well.  And, now, one of the most famous and successful projects begun by the federal government during the Great Depression has succumbed to being politically-correct relative to subjects that simply have no place in the workplace; an overall lack of being apolitical relative to simply getting work done; and, overall inefficiencies that boggle the mind.  Sadly’ the absolute hardest-working employees are not employees, at all:  They are the interns. And, these folks are rock stars!  I did not meet an intern – not a single intern – that disappointed me. They work tirelessly; they are dedicated; they are interested (in TVA); and, they are phenomenal resources. Funny … If one thinks back to the founding of TVA, the intern is probably ‘the’ closest representation of that workforce.  I’d say that I miss TVA, but I miss (more) why I sought employment there in the first place.  

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) offered the best and most creative work environment for someone at my level of experience.  When I went to work for TVA, the company had recently experienced one of the worst environmental incidents in the history of the United States. Yet, regardless on the media and outside pressures from the National EPA and many concerned citizens, TVA's management team was able to keep its cool, be courteous, respectful and polite to everyone involved, including plaintiffs, and acted in every case known to me with the professional responsibility that one would help expect from folks who cherish the American values of those who founded this great nation.  I served TVA as its first Geotechnical Engineer after a long absence of engineers with my type of background and soon my level of responsibilities grew from being just one more person on a very large team to a key professional in TVA's goals to not only remedy the errors of the past, but to establish a state-of-practice engineering team by leading an extensive geotechnical engineering monitoring program and a quality assurance/quality control program for the proper stacking of a very difficult material to understand, namely the behavior of Coal Combustion Products (CCPs).   TVA's management team not only entrusted me with enormous project budgets and responsibilities, but encouraged me all the way through challenging times.   After years of great professional rewards, I took an early retirement to return to south Florida, where my family and I have permanently resided for over 30 years.

When I first started at TVA I was excited about the opportunity. The team I worked with was great and we worked amazingly well together. A typical day at work consisted of a morning meeting for tasking, followed by development, but eventually more meetings starting taking precedence over development. Now the workstation and infrastructure were great, once you made your way through the sea of permissions needed and found the person that could give you access. I wasn't so much silos, but rather processes that really hindered progress. The opportunity to learn was far and few, mostly due to the fact that there are no specialized mentor-ship programs beyond the typical generic manager mentor-ship program. The middle-management layer is massive and full of people creating purpose for themselves. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the need for management, and when done properly the results can be extremely gratifying for everyone involved. But constant reorging and high turnover rate leads to a mess. Economically speaking, they need a major cut in middle-management. The workplace culture was fun at times, but also very dark. There were a lot of massive meetings letting contractors know that they would never get a raise or be hired on permanently. The hardest part of the job was dealing with the massive amount of dirty code and error-prone applications and services. TVA also needs to improve the quality of their software developers and project managers. I know that you can expect to find poorly written code at any workplace, especially a larger organization but this was ridiculous.

The water lab tested all fluids and chemicals utilized for water processes in the plant, and fluids leaving the plant (including the sewage plant). Samples were tested 24/7.

The job did practically utilize what I learned in school regarding water usage in a plant and its relationship to the environment.

Most of the time there was one shift chemist on duty at a time, so there was not a lot of interaction with co-workers except briefing the relief when he/she came in to take their shift.

The Lab Supervisor position, which was a straight day position, was eliminated and then handled by outside the lab plant management. Then everyone was back on rotating shifts. This elimated the promotion incentive aspiration to get to a higher pay position within the laboratory section. I hope this is not the case now.

The hardest part of the job for me was midnight shift. Rotating from days, to evenings, to midnights keeps your circadian "rhythms" really out of "tune". Not sure how it is now done, but there probably is not a better way to accomplish the mission and be fair to all workers.

A plus was step raises based on seniority. The job was pretty secure work, as EPA required constant monitoring of emissions, and the equipment required super clean fluids to prevent corrosive rust and debris build-up.

I really enjoyed taking the outside river and ash pond samples. That was my most enjoyable part of the job for me.

Upon arriving to the system control center we get a quick breifing of the transmission equipment that is out of service and what potientially could be problematic for the day. Once that information is relayed then the juggling act occurs as to working with field personnel issolating equipment to work on and maintaining the transmission system in a safe and reliable manner. We write switching procedure all the way down to the secoundary circuits to completely issolate the equipment form the Bulk Electric system. We do so by bypassing the equipment completely due to the different switchyard setups that we have for the entire area. Management has an expectation that we perform these acts in a safe and 100% error free environment. Which is a goal that all of us take pride in attempting to accomplish. My co worker are among the best in the country to lend a hand to make sure that you maintain this performance through a peer checking mentality. Which leads me to the hardest part of the job which is to maintain that 100% error free culture that they all strive to achieve. With all the different personnalities of substations that we have it is hard to stay abreast of all the changes that are taking place in the industry and to maintain the controling hand that keeps you error free. I do enjoy the job because it is ever evolving and keeps you mind sharp and focused at the job at hand that is never the same as any previous task that you have completed.

A typical workday consisted of a team briefing with the manager discussing priorities for the day.  Following the meeting this employee would follow-up with any open assignments from the previous day.  The remainder of the day consisted of field observations of personnel to ensure compliance with station procedures and management expectations.

I experienced all aspects of nuclear power generation.  I interfaced with department managers and employees of the following departments: engineering, operations, maintenance, chemistry, radiation protection, security, work management and projects.  I learned that for a task to be performed successfully there must be an owner (by name), schedule, approved work document and commitment by all individuals to follow procedures.

Management at TVA was committed to nuclear safety and doing the right thing.  The plant manager was especially skilled at communicating with station personnel during periodic updates of station performance.

The hardest part of my job was ensuring that station personnel understood that my department was focused on improving plant performance and documenting deficiencies was not a personal attack on the individual.

The most enjoyable part of my job was achieving an open and trusting relationship with station department managers and department personnel.

It’s hard to believe in a company’s mission when senior management does not project a clear view of what that mission is, much less how to achieve it.  Tva goes through a “reorganization” every 12-16 months, for better “efficiency” and to achieve “strategic goals”.  It’s always the same overpaid suits that show up for a bloated paycheck and never accomplish anything.  TVA makes electricity, but has closed the majority of their baseload generation plants before have replacement generation in place. Pair that with a successful economic development department that has brought scores of businesses and industry into the area and guess what…TVA has no way to generate enough electricity for these new businesses and no way to build new generation because they can’t borrow enough money.  Mismanagement of the highest degree, yet the decision makers sit in meeting after meeting congratulating each for new positions and finding new cost-saving measures( cutting jobs…but never the jobs that cost the company the most money…their jobs).  Written policy is only in effect when management wants it to be, there is always a work-around. This is an absolutely horrendous organization to work for, with managers whose incomprehensible decisions affect mine and your lives….the power grid. Having seen the inner workings of this organization I believe I will live long enough to witness a collapse of the US power grid due in large part to TVA leadership being absolute empty suits who sat and watched the collapse from their high tower.  

TVA has been a great place to work, and hope that it continues to be for years to come. However, poor decisions in the past are starting to affect TVA's workforce; the company is being forced to make drastic workforce reductions company wide. This long drawn out process has negatively impacted organizational trust, and the overall corporate culture.

Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for my opportunity to work for this organization. I have had the opportunity to work cross-functionally with a lot of organizations which has elevated my knowledge of TVA's business. There is a lot of opportunity for advancement with this company, but you can't be someone who sits by and waits for the job to find you.

The most enjoyable part of my job is making a difference in the lives of so many that I work side by side with daily. The employees of TVA are a wonderful hard-working and caring group, and I come to work every day with an enthusiastic attitude with the hope of helping others be great.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with the constant change. I consider myself to be a change champion, but dealing with as much change in the few short years I have been at TVA seems excessive.

Typical day at work varies depending on the season. Typically during the summer months pre-planing is conducted in preparation for the fall turbine outages which can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months. 

Pre planning involves working with the customer on developing the scope of work, writing or revising job instructions, and setting up vendor contracts.

In addition to outage pre-planning, tasks during the summer months include providing engineering direction/support to the machine shop craft on the refurbishing of various nuclear and non-nuclear power production components. This involves analyzing data and providing dispositions/recommendations on the various as found conditions of components. 

During the Fall, and Spring months I provide engineering support at the various outage sites thought the Tennessee Valley. During the outage components are dissasembled, inspeced, and repairs are made as needed per engineering recomendations. 

Outages are typically are very high pressure and very fast paced due to the amount of issues found and the short time constraints.

Tennessee Valley Authority is a great place to be. They are downsizing which is a sad thing for a lot of people (I included in the ones to be retiring involuntary). It is a great place to work at with people that are good at getting along with everyone. My work ( as a laborer) was to maintain the job site and there were always something to do but safety is always the first thing to consider before starting the job. You would have pre-job briefings, safety awareness, and post-job briefing of any problems as we work.Management is great. I only have one problem with managment and that was because of my fault of missing more days than usual. The benefits is wonderful as well. In the mid of November everyone will get a bonus based on our salary and the percentage TVA gives according to our yearly performances and safety which helps on christmas items. Working for the Government  letting hotels and other place know you work for them usually gives good discounts. And from what I heard, retirement is great for those that have been there for twenty or more years. I do enjoy working for TVA while the job is still intact.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Intern 21 salaries reported	$23.75 per hour
Mechanic 7 salaries reported	$102,289 per year
Electrician 8 salaries reported	$109,106 per year
Plant operator 6 salaries reported	$97,276 per year
Machinist 6 salaries reported	$109,519 per year

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