Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861 · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Tennessee power outages by utility

41 Tennessee utilities report outage minutes to EIA. The state median is 140 minutes a year; the range runs from 16 to 436.

Ranking by outage minutes

Tennessee, SAIDI without major event days, 2024; lower is better; 41 utilities.

RankTennessee utilityOwner typeTennessee home accountsSAIDI minInterruptions (SAIFI)SAIDI with stormsTennessee storm sharePrice ¢/kWh
1McMinnville Electric SystemMunicipal6,646160.163148%11.83
2City of DyersburgMunicipal9,475160.222638%11.15
3City of ShelbyvilleMunicipal9,877170.412533%11.33
4City of WinchesterMunicipal5,292250.3023889%11.81
5Tullahoma Board-Public UtilsMunicipal9,278402.315629%11.18
6Middle Tennessee E M CCooperative307,370420.884915%11.76
7City of ClevelandMunicipal29,331460.806124%12.53
8City of RipleyMunicipal5,106490.558944%12.35
9City of GallatinMunicipal23,204520.8216468%11.78
10City of LewisburgMunicipal4,981591.00590%11.22
11Maryville UtilitiesMunicipal19,971620.547922%11.28
12Plateau Electric CooperativeCooperative14,331673.499530%13.21
13City of MorristownMunicipal13,459691.1623971%12.74
14City of BristolMunicipal29,622861.5754584%10.81
15Nashville Electric ServiceMunicipal417,640871.01No dataNo data13.47
16City of ClarksvilleMunicipal75,953991.8320552%12.77
17Bolivar Energy AuthorityMunicipal8,9291111.1033567%13.50
18City of JacksonMunicipal31,8561151.081150%11.97
19City of GreenevilleMunicipal32,3881261.8479184%11.90
20Powell Valley Electric CoopCooperative21,1471383.0649972%11.49
21Gibson Electric Members CorpCooperative29,3311402.3731255%13.00
22City of PulaskiMunicipal12,4321492.5575780%13.31
23Johnson CityMunicipal72,2051521.2465977%12.41
24City of FayettevilleMunicipal16,6671541.9721729%11.93
25Duck River Elec Member CorpCooperative71,3421612.0827642%12.50
26Kingsport Power CoInvestor Owned43,1591651.19102884%12.84
27Columbia Power SystemMunicipal31,1661652.531745%12.00
28City of ClintonMunicipal26,2301801.0226432%12.99
29City of RockwoodMunicipal12,0421871.8332442%12.71
30Knoxville Utilities BoardMunicipal193,7071931.4035245%12.54
31Holston Electric Coop, IncCooperative25,7731982.3189278%13.05
32Sevier County Electric SystemMunicipal35,6262302.1233030%11.33
33Sequachee Valley Electric CoopCooperative33,2062532.6930116%12.97
34City of LaFolletteMunicipal19,9342754.1674263%13.51
35City of MemphisMunicipal380,2862811.7432714%12.16
36City of DicksonMunicipal30,8082883.263107%11.65
37Appalachian Electric CoopCooperative43,7092952.8692768%12.93
38City of ParisMunicipal16,2633074.5148537%11.55
39Tri-County Elec Member Corp (TN)Cooperative24,8243123.7839020%12.33
40Fort Loudoun Electric CoopCooperative30,5273872.6047218%12.11
41Volunteer Electric CoopCooperative104,3874365.0268536%12.19

Tennessee outage minutes by owner type

In Tennessee, 74% of 3,166,103 home accounts sit with the 41 qualifying utilities out of 82 in the file. Tennessee customer-weighted SAIDI is 168 minutes against a median of 140, and 25 of 41 Tennessee utilities exceed the U.S. median of 99. Counting major event days adds a median 40% to SAIDI.

Tennessee owner typeTennessee utilitiesTennessee home accountsTennessee median SAIDITennessee weighted SAIDITennessee median SAIFITennessee storm shareTennessee median price ¢/kWh
Municipal291,580,3741111651.2440%11.97
Cooperative11705,9471981752.6936%12.50
Investor Owned143,1591651651.1984%12.84

By owner type, Municipal utilities have the lowest median SAIDI in Tennessee (111 minutes, 29 of 41) and Cooperative the highest (198 minutes, 11 of 41).

Tennessee utilities that stand out

Why it stands outTennessee utilityTennessee owner typeTennessee accountsTennessee SAIDI minTennessee SAIDI rankTennessee SAIFITennessee SAIDI with stormsTennessee price ¢/kWhTennessee price rank
the most reliableMcMinnville Electric SystemMunicipal6,646161 of 410.163111.8314 of 41
the least reliableVolunteer Electric CoopCooperative104,38743641 of 415.0268512.1921 of 41
the largestNashville Electric ServiceMunicipal417,6408715 of 411.01No data13.4739 of 41
the most storm-drivenCity of WinchesterMunicipal5,292254 of 410.3023811.8113 of 41
the most improvedKnoxville Utilities BoardMunicipal193,70719330 of 411.4035212.5427 of 41
the cheapestCity of BristolMunicipal29,6228614 of 411.5754510.811 of 41
the priciestCity of LaFolletteMunicipal19,93427534 of 414.1674213.5141 of 41

Does a higher price buy fewer outages?

Each dot is one of 41 Tennessee utilities.

Home price and outage minutes, Tennessee utilities01002003004005001011121314Home price, cents per kWhSAIDI, minutes a yearMcMinnville Electric System: 11.83 ¢/kWh, 16 minCity of Dyersburg: 11.15 ¢/kWh, 16 minCity of Shelbyville: 11.33 ¢/kWh, 17 minCity of Winchester: 11.81 ¢/kWh, 25 minTullahoma Board-Public Utils: 11.18 ¢/kWh, 40 minMiddle Tennessee E M C: 11.76 ¢/kWh, 42 minCity of Cleveland: 12.53 ¢/kWh, 46 minCity of Ripley: 12.35 ¢/kWh, 49 minCity of Gallatin: 11.78 ¢/kWh, 52 minCity of Lewisburg: 11.22 ¢/kWh, 59 minMaryville Utilities: 11.28 ¢/kWh, 62 minPlateau Electric Cooperative: 13.21 ¢/kWh, 67 minCity of Morristown: 12.74 ¢/kWh, 69 minCity of Bristol: 10.81 ¢/kWh, 86 minNashville Electric Service: 13.47 ¢/kWh, 87 minCity of Clarksville: 12.77 ¢/kWh, 99 minBolivar Energy Authority: 13.50 ¢/kWh, 111 minCity of Jackson: 11.97 ¢/kWh, 115 minCity of Greeneville: 11.90 ¢/kWh, 126 minPowell Valley Electric Coop: 11.49 ¢/kWh, 138 minGibson Electric Members Corp: 13.00 ¢/kWh, 140 minCity of Pulaski: 13.31 ¢/kWh, 149 minJohnson City: 12.41 ¢/kWh, 152 minCity of Fayetteville: 11.93 ¢/kWh, 154 minDuck River Elec Member Corp: 12.50 ¢/kWh, 161 minKingsport Power Co: 12.84 ¢/kWh, 165 minColumbia Power System: 12.00 ¢/kWh, 165 minCity of Clinton: 12.99 ¢/kWh, 180 minCity of Rockwood: 12.71 ¢/kWh, 187 minKnoxville Utilities Board: 12.54 ¢/kWh, 193 minHolston Electric Coop, Inc: 13.05 ¢/kWh, 198 minSevier County Electric System: 11.33 ¢/kWh, 230 minSequachee Valley Electric Coop: 12.97 ¢/kWh, 253 minCity of LaFollette: 13.51 ¢/kWh, 275 minCity of Memphis: 12.16 ¢/kWh, 281 minCity of Dickson: 11.65 ¢/kWh, 288 minAppalachian Electric Coop: 12.93 ¢/kWh, 295 minCity of Paris: 11.55 ¢/kWh, 307 minTri-County Elec Member Corp (TN): 12.33 ¢/kWh, 312 minFort Loudoun Electric Coop: 12.11 ¢/kWh, 387 minVolunteer Electric Coop: 12.19 ¢/kWh, 436 min
Tennessee, 2024: first 8 of 41 rows
Home price, cents per kWhSAIDI, minutes a year
McMinnville Electric System11.8316
City of Dyersburg11.1516
City of Shelbyville11.3317
City of Winchester11.8125
Tullahoma Board-Public Utils11.1840
Middle Tennessee E M C11.7642
City of Cleveland12.5346
City of Ripley12.3549

41 rows from EIA-861 survey.

CSV

Tennessee utilities, change in their own SAIDI

First to last year each utility reported, best change first.

RankTennessee utilityTennessee yearsTennessee SAIDI firstTennessee SAIDI lastTennessee change
1Knoxville Utilities Board2015 to 20251191-99%
2City of Dyersburg2015 to 20255319-65%
3Columbia Power System2017 to 2024457165-64%
4Middle Tennessee E M C2019 to 20259048-47%
5City of Gallatin2022 to 20253723-39%
6Holston Electric Coop, Inc2016 to 2025204150-27%
7Nashville Electric Service2015 to 202511383-26%
8Sevier County Electric System2015 to 2025224174-22%
9Duck River Elec Member Corp2015 to 2025170134-21%
10Kingsport Power Co2015 to 2025200158-21%
11City of Cleveland2015 to 20254536-20%
12Maryville Utilities2020 to 20256654-18%
13Fort Loudoun Electric Coop2015 to 2024409387-5%
14City of Clinton2015 to 2025118118-0%
15City of Clarksville2020 to 202599100+1%
16Powell Valley Electric Coop2015 to 2024131138+6%
17City of Lewisburg2017 to 202578+6%
18City of Dickson2015 to 2025183202+10%
19City of Jackson2020 to 202498115+18%
20City of Greeneville2015 to 202588115+31%
21Tri-County Elec Member Corp (TN)2015 to 2024226312+38%
22Gibson Electric Members Corp2015 to 2024101140+39%
23City of Morristown2020 to 20254363+46%
24City of Shelbyville2019 to 20251217+47%
25City of Paris2016 to 2024207307+48%
26Sequachee Valley Electric Coop2015 to 2025152253+66%
27City of LaFollette2015 to 2024158275+74%
28City of Memphis2015 to 2025160283+77%
29Appalachian Electric Coop2015 to 2025117215+83%
30McMinnville Electric System2017 to 2025816+88%
31City of Fayetteville2018 to 202595187+97%
32City of Pulaski2015 to 202579163+105%
33Tullahoma Board-Public Utils2015 to 20252255+144%
34City of Bristol2015 to 20243286+167%
35Johnson City2015 to 202535100+185%
36City of Rockwood2015 to 202556170+202%
37City of Ripley2017 to 202585281+231%
38Bolivar Energy Authority2015 to 202554188+248%
39Volunteer Electric Coop2020 to 202452436+736%

Analyst note

Tennessee has 41 qualifying reporters, rank 2 of 40 states by count. Of 41 Tennessee utilities with 1,000+ home accounts that report SAIDI, McMinnville Electric System is lowest at 16 minutes a year and Volunteer Electric Coop highest at 436, a 27.5 to 1 spread. The state median is 140 minutes, +41% against the U.S. median reporter. Over each utility's own record, Knoxville Utilities Board improved most (119 to 1 minutes, -99%, 2015 to 2025) and Volunteer Electric Coop changed the other way (52 to 436, +736%); 14 of 39 fell. Home price and outage minutes line up at r = +0.22 across 41 Tennessee utilities: price tells almost nothing here. That is Tennessee's pattern, not a cause. Storms weigh most at City of Winchester: 89% of its all-event SAIDI (238 minutes) comes from major event days, against 25 without them.

Questions on Tennessee outages

How many Tennessee utilities qualify for this ranking?

41 of 82 Tennessee utilities, rank 2 of 40 states by count.

Which Tennessee utility has the fewest outage minutes?

McMinnville Electric System: 16 minutes a year, SAIDI without major events, 2024.

Which Tennessee utility has the most?

Volunteer Electric Coop: 436 minutes a year in 2024.

What is the typical SAIDI in Tennessee?

The median of 41 reporting utilities is 140 minutes, +41% on the U.S. median reporter.

Do cheaper Tennessee utilities have more outages?

Across 41 utilities r = +0.22, so the link is weak.

How much of Tennessee outage time comes from storms?

At City of Winchester 89% of all-event SAIDI is major event days.

How reliable is the largest Tennessee utility?

Nashville Electric Service serves 417,640 home accounts and reports 87 minutes, rank 15 of 41; weighted by customers the state figure is 168.

Do Tennessee co-ops and investor-owned utilities differ?

3 owner types report in Tennessee: Municipal 29 utilities with 1,580,374 home accounts, Cooperative 11 utilities with 705,947 home accounts, Investor Owned 1 utility with 43,159 home accounts.

What share of Tennessee home accounts do these utilities serve?

74% of 3,166,103 accounts, 41 of 82 utilities; 25 are above the U.S. median of 99 minutes.

More on Tennessee

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41 Tennessee utilities report outage minutes to EIA. The state median is 140 minutes a year; the range runs from 16 to 436.