Public power's vision starts and ends with public responsibility. Let me give you an example. Just imagine the impact on computers and transit systems if that were to occur. Now, private utilities also know that the American economy is increasingly dependent on electrical power, but their bottom-line calculations don't allow for the generation of very much excess capacity just because we might, in a heat wave, find ourselves running short. Right now, they would argue, construction of another major generating unit would not produce the return on investment their shareholders demand.
Surplus capacity is unsold inventory.
At TVA, of course, we don't have shareholders. We have the public. So, while TVA does not build facilities for power production greater than the requirements of our service area, we do operate with a surplus to avoid a power shortage to our customers. We provide this margin for unexpectedly high demand and generation which is sometimes unavailable. Which is not to say that we couldn't actually run short of power in the Tennessee Valley this summer.