Powell Valley Electric Cooperative

Powell Valley Electric Cooperative, a tax-exempt non-profit electric utility cooperative headquartered in New Tazewell, Tennessee, supplies electricity and utility services to the United States Penitentiary in Lee County as a prime contractor on full-and-open delivery orders, with a secondary footprint in federal emergency management grant sub-awards.

Powell Valley Electric Cooperative operates exclusively as a prime contractor on federal electricity contracts (92% of recent awards) and as a grant sub-recipient, competing without set-aside designations. The cooperative holds a ten-year Indefinite Delivery Contract (15B11720D00000060) with the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons, valued at $13.1 million and running through September 2030, which anchors the bulk of the federal footprint. Under this parent IDC, Powell Valley has received thirty-one quarterly and monthly delivery orders since 2021, each covering three-month electric service periods at firm fixed prices. Representative awards include a $377,981 delivery order for fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 electricity (awarded July 1, 2026, with completion September 30, 2026), a $326,339 third-quarter fiscal 2026 order (April 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026), and a $325,000 first-quarter fiscal 2027 order (October 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026).

Customer concentration is acute. The Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons, United States Penitentiary Lee County, accounts for 72 of 91 total awards and $34.2 million of the $59.2 million combined potential value — 89% of award count and 58% of potential value. A secondary grant footprint includes seven Federal Emergency Management Agency sub-awards routed through the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, covering emergency protective measures and reimbursement administration from pandemic response work (awards dated January 2026 through August 2026). Two additional Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons awards fall outside the Lee County penitentiary IDC and sit on a separate Indefinite Delivery Contract (JX00C347) with three task orders valued at $3.9 million combined.

Powell Valley's capability portfolio is narrowly scoped to electric utility supply. The cooperative's NAICS concentration (69 of 91 awards under Electric Power Distribution, NAICS 221121) and PSC posture (81 of 91 awards under Utilities—Electric, PSC L) reflect a single-service provider profile: continuous, recurring monthly or quarterly electricity delivery to a single federal customer. Activity has averaged five to eight delivery orders per year over the past five calendar years, with eight orders in 2026 year-to-date. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal — only one award ($325 thousand) carries an ultimate completion date before October 2027; the Lee County parent IDC does not recompete until September 2030.

No subcontractors or material sub-awards appear across the prime contract footprint. The grant sub-award profile shows Powell Valley as a sub-recipient under Tennessee state emergency management agencies, receiving reimbursement for emergency protective measures and management costs incurred during the pandemic rather than performing service delivery as a contractor would. The cooperative operates with no identified parent contractors or teaming relationships on the federal side.