The salary reduction was blamed partially on a drop in power sales as a result of a slumping economy. But the TVA also did away with performance bonuses for top executives, including Kilgore – a wise move considering the nation’s largest utility is facing millions in lawsuits from residents affected by last year’s coal ash spill and at least $1 billion more from a massive cleanup of the land damaged by the spill.

“It has been a very difficult year,” said TVA chairman Mike Duncan at the utility’s last board meeting.

The TVA says Kilgore took the biggest hit in salary reduction among staff at the utility, and now earns 45 percent less than the average top executive at other utilities, according to a study conducted by the TVA. Kilgore receives a base salary of $875,000 per year plus a $300,000 annual retention bonus for the next four years.

While a handful of top executives will have to forgo performance raises this year, the remaining 12,000 TVA staffers are still eligible for raises in 2010.

The TVA reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it earned $726 million on revenues of $11.3 billion during fiscal year 2009, compared to $817 million on revenues of $10.4 billion the previous year.

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › TVA CEO still well paid after salary reduction

The comments from community members were telling:

“TVA says I’m not affected, I’ve never been so affected by anything in my life,” one concerned citizen says. “How are you going to make me whole again?”

“I generally don’t come to these meetings because I get really upset because I don’t believe anything they say,” says another resident.

“We’re still in the dark, everybody’s in the dark, nobody knows what’s going on,” says a third.

Gil Francis, a spokesman with TVA, says the agency is making progress in its cleanup of the area but there is still a lot of work yet to do. The massive cleanup is expected to ring in at more than $975 million, and there is no word when the cleanup will be complete. Some say the damage is too complex to be remedied by removing and relocating the spilled coal ash. Coal ash contains dangerous toxins that can cause serious health problems to humans. It’s toll on wildlife and plant life in the area is anyone’s guess. It already has severely affected the recreational activities that used to flourish in nearby waterways. Those rivers are now posted with warnings of contamination from the spill.

Still, packing up and leaving isn’t necessarily an option for some residents affected by the spill. “I don’t know if it can be made right. I don’t want to move, I love our place,” one resident says.

Source: WTVC NewsChannel 9

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Victims of TVA coal ash spill speak out at town meeting