Economy, ash spill mean no TVA executive bonuses

Associated Press - November 19, 2009 1:35 PM ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The lump of coal in the Christmas stockings of Tennessee Valley Authority executives this year will be more like coal ash.

TVA's top executives were told Thursday during a directors' board meeting in Bowling Green, Ky., not to expect performance bonuses this fiscal year because of a drop in electricity sales due to the poor economy and the massive coal ash spill at the Kingston plant in Tennessee.

They and some 3,300 other managers and specialists at the nation's largest public utility also will see no pay raises in fiscal 2010, which began Oct. 1.

Officials say about a half the coal ash that spilled into the Emory River last December has been recovered as part of the $1 billion cleanup.