Resource Data International gave TVA's Cumberland Fossil Plant a five-star rating based on the plant's performance in a number of operational areas. Adequate facilities, in good operating order, are certainly the foundation for reliability. But providing reliable power over the long haul requires dedicated employees willing to learn the new skills demanded by a fully competitive marketplace. TVA University is charged with making sure all our employees have the knowledge and skills needed to continue TVA's longstanding tradition of creativity and innovation. TVAU was recently awarded the W. Edwards Deming Outstanding Training Award in recognition of its innovative employee-development and training initiatives.
Competition also requires a commitment to constantly improving services.
Last September, Information Week magazine ranked TVA No. 1 among the nation's utility companies in using information technology to meet business objectives, and it rated us 15th among the top 500 business users of technology. Of course, the most impressive measure of TVA's success, and the one that really matters, is the overall retail price of power in the TVA region. In 1998, that retail price was nearly 20 percent below the national average. As you know, TVA adopted a 10-year business plan in 1997 designed to ensure that our prices remain competitive. That's the good news from 1999.