KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority didn't sell as much electricity in its third fiscal quarter as last year's equivalent period, but it produced more cheap power.

"Both sales and revenues were down in the third quarter. This was offset largely by our efforts to reduce operating costs," TVA President and CEO Bill Johnson said.

The federal utility released its April-June financial results on Monday, showing power sales were off 4 percent in the third quarter. TVA officials said mild temperatures were the reason. However, the cooler temperatures were often caused by rainy weather and hydroelectric generation — TVA's most economical source — was up 226 percent.

Fuel costs for the year to date are $271 million higher than the same period a year ago due to nuclear outages requiring more generation from higher-cost sources, particularly coal.

Total revenues were largely flat year to date while sales to local power companies were up 2 percent for the first nine months of the utility's fiscal year.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2013, TVA reported a net loss of $12 million on $2.6 billion in operating revenues. The figures compare with a net loss of $23 million on $2.8 billion in revenues in the same period a year ago.

The figures were reported in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

TVA serves 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states.