The Tennessee Valley Authority had an $81 million loss during the third quarter, much larger than the $12 million loss sustained by the power provider during the same period in 2013.

The TVA blamed the losses on lower electricity sales. Total sales were down 3% through the first nine months when compared with the same period a year ago, due largely to the closing of U.S. Enrichment Corp.'s facilities in Paducah, Kentucky, later in 2013. USEC was TVA's largest directly served industrial customer at the time, according to a TVA news release.

A three-year strategy by the TVA to reduce operating and maintenance spending by $500 million by the end of fiscal 2015 is part of the agency's efforts to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Total operating revenues increased 1.9% in the third quarter as higher operating revenues in the third quarter were primarily due to a $94 million increase in fuel cost recovery, which was partially offset by a $41 million decrease in base revenue.