Powell Valley Electric Cooperative Board of Directors votes to pass TVA Pandemic Recovery Credit to members

For the third year in a row, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative will pass the TVA Pandemic Relief Credit, now renamed the Pandemic Recovery Credit, through to its membership.  The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) first offered the credit to local power companies in 2020 in response to the economic hardships and financial impact the pandemic had on communities throughout the Tennessee Valley. Recognizing the lingering effects of the pandemic to the region, at the August 2022 board meeting TVA’s board approved an extension of the Pandemic Recovery Credit, a 2.5 percent base rate credit, through September 2023.

Many power distributors have decided to keep all or some of the credit to offset rising material and labor costs.  However, PVEC and its Board of Directors understand that members are facing increasing costs in almost all essential living expenses, including groceries, housing, vehicles, and utilities.  In an effort to support the members of the communities that it serves, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors has, once again, decided to pass 100% of the approximate $1.5 million credit directly to its members in the form of savings on kilowatt-hour rates.

“Powell Valley Electric Cooperative strives to provide safe, reliable, and affordable power to its members,” says Brad Coppock, PVEC General Manager.  “I am pleased to share the board’s decision which demonstrates Powell Valley Electric’s on-going goal of providing power at affordable rates for all its members.

Powell Valley Electric Cooperative, headquartered in New Tazewell, Tenn., with branch offices in Jonesville, Va. and Sneedville, Tenn., is a not-for-profit member-owned energy provider that serves more than 33,000 homes, farms and businesses in the Virginia counties of Lee, Scott and Wise and the Tennessee counties of Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins and Union.