Electricity is produced at a TVA generating plant and carried over high-voltage transmission lines to delivery points of local companies that distribute the power. The substations and transformers reduce voltage to levels that can be used by homes and businesses.
Electric currents are sent out from power plants at high voltages to get the electricity to travel where it needs to go. Tall metal transmission towers keep the power lines that carry electricity far off the ground, and “electricity-proof” insulators made of glass or porcelain keep the electric current from leaving the power lines and entering the metal towers.
The electric current moves from TVA’s transmission lines to the distribution lines of local power companies. These lines are strung on the tall wooden poles you see all around you. In some neighborhoods the wires are buried underground.
TVA generates more electricity than any other public utility in the nation and supplies power through a network of 15,860 miles of transmission line; 487 substations, power switchyards and switching stations; and 1,070 individual interchange and customer connection points.
TVA provides transmission service on a nondiscriminatory, as-available basis to other qualified power providers requiring power transfers out of or through the TVA system. TVA also provides interconnection services to independent power producers consistent with sound reliability practices.