State electricity profile · 2024
Tennessee Electricity
Tennessee residential power costs 12.42¢/kWh, 24.6% below the US average. Scroll down for commercial, industrial, and generation-mix figures, sourced from EIA filings.
- 12.42¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- -24.6%
- vs US average
- 13%
- Renewable
- 3.2M
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
The verdict · 2024
Tennessee's residential electricity runs 12.42¢/kWh - 24.6% below the 16.48¢/kWh national average, cheaper than 82% of states, with 13% of its power from renewables.
Rate is the EIA state average across all 3.2M residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the rate on any single bill. Source: EIA Form-861.
What Tennessee's Electricity Data Tells Us
Tennessee's residential rate stands at 12.42¢/kWh for 2024, across a base of 3.2M metered households, 24.6% below where the national residential average sits, 16.48¢/kWh. Commercial customers pay 12.05¢/kWh, and industrial customers are billed 6.21¢/kWh, reflecting the cost differentials that come from voltage level, load factor, and contract length across EIA Form-861 survey respondents. 43.8M MWh moved through residential meters over the year on roughly $5.4B in utility revenue, a useful yardstick for sizing local demand against the grid mix that serves it.
41.8% of Tennessee's in-state generation traces back to nuclear, the leading source; the runner-up is coal, at 22.7% and natural gas in third at 21.4%. 13.2% of Tennessee's electricity output comes from renewable fuels, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass combined, a figure that matters because each renewable megawatt-hour displaces fuel costs that otherwise flow through to retail bills. Expansion headroom remains: cost curves for wind and solar have fallen faster than fossil alternatives for most of the last decade.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Tennessee moved from 10.41¢/kWh in 2016 to 12.42¢/kWh in 2024, a 19.3% shift over that window. Comparable-priced neighbors include Wyoming, Arkansas, Oklahoma, which gives a peer set for sanity-checking local quotes. For anyone negotiating a supplier contract, weighing an energy-efficiency upgrade, or modeling a household budget, the combination of current rate, multi-year trend, and generation mix offers a sturdier footing than any single data point on its own.
-24.6%
vs the US residential average
82%
of states have higher residential rates
13%
renewable share, below the US mix
3.2M
residential customers served
How Tennessee compares
Cents per kWh, EIA Form 861. Pick a benchmark above to compare Tennessee against the US average or a peer state.
Residential Price History
| Year | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12.42¢/kWh | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 12.19¢/kWh | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 12.25¢/kWh | +10.7% |
| 2021 | 11.07¢/kWh | +2.9% |
| 2020 | 10.76¢/kWh | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 10.87¢/kWh | +1.5% |
| 2018 | 10.71¢/kWh | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 10.72¢/kWh | +3.0% |
| 2016 | 10.41¢/kWh | - |
Energy Generation Mix
How Tennessee generates its electricity. Renewable sources account for 13.2% of generation.
- Nuclear41.8%
- Coal22.7%
- Natural Gas21.4%
- Hydrorenewable11.6%
- Solarrenewable1.5%
- Pumped Storage0.7%
- Petroleum0.2%
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$5.4B
Commercial Revenue
$4.3B
Residential Sales
43.8M MWh
Residential Customers
3.2M
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in Tennessee? ▼
How much of Tennessee's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in Tennessee? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Tennessee? ▼
What is the cheapest energy source in Tennessee? ▼
Where does RateWatt's Tennessee electricity data come from? ▼
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Using Tennessee's numbers
This is the state average, use it as a benchmark, not a quote for your address.
- Tennessee sits 24.6% below the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
- Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Tennessee price trend
- Compare Tennessee side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator
Figures are EIA state averages by sector. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
Energy Guides
Understanding Electricity Rates
What ¢/kWh means and how your bill is calculated
Why Prices Vary by State
Generation mix, regulation, and geography
US Energy Sources Explained
How each fuel source powers the grid
Renewable vs Fossil Fuel Costs
LCOE comparison and the cost crossover
Cheapest States for Electricity
Which states pay the least and why
Primary source data for Tennessee
Every figure on this page traces to these official federal datasets.
- 📊 EIA State Energy Profile, Tennessee State energy database
- ⚡ EIA Electric Power Monthly Generation and price statistics
- 🌿 EPA eGRID Power-grid emissions database
- ☀️ NREL solar resource maps Solar potential by location
- 💨 NREL wind resource maps Wind potential by location
- ⚛️ NRC reactor data Nuclear operating status
- ⚡ FERC market data Transmission and market prices
- 🏛️ NARUC commissions State public utility commissions
- 📖 EIA energy mapping system Interactive federal energy map
Related
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. State prices and generation mix are pulled directly from the EIA's published tables for this state. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15.