Utilities

Electricity

The municipal and cooperative distributors of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) supply electricity in The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley.

• Industrial electricity rates in the region are 12.5% below the national average.
• Commercial electricity rates are 15% below the national average.
• Residential rates are 22% below the national average.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

TVA is the largest public power producer in the nation, serving more than 8.3 million people, and is among the most reliable. TVA has never dropped firm load to any industrial customer in its history and has a reliability rate of 99.999%, the highest in the nation.

TVA generates 152 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, or enough power to meet the needs of nearly 10 million homes. TVA also manages the Tennessee River, the nation's fifth-largest river system.

The Tennessee Valley: Prepared for Future Demand
Demand is forecasted to exceed generating capacity in many areas of the US by mid decade. Kiplinger reports that the West Coast, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and some Midwestern cities will be vulnerable. The Southeast US is one area in the country that will have ample power supply.

Power and More
TVA and its power distributors are here to help your business grow. In additions to providing dependable power at a reasonable rate, a host of other programs are available to help your startup go smoothly:

• TVA Growth Credit Program: TVA rewards businesses locating or expanding in the Tennessee Valley with substantial credits on their power bills. Credits are provided by most distributors and can be explained when you submit your sample electric demand for a quote.
• VPI Pricing: Variable Price Interruptible Power offers several competitively priced power options to SIC qualified customers with loads of at least 5 megawatts. VPI prices are generally low because they follow TVA's hourly power supply cost of producing electricity and because VPI has an interruptible feature.
• TVA also offers technical services, community development, and small/minority business support.
• As a commitment to a team approach to regional development, TVA and its power distributors fund in part The East Tennessee Economic Development Agency and seven other like organizations in the Tennessee Valley.

Natural Gas (TVA)

Spectra Energy / East Tennessee Natural Gas supplies most of the gas distributed in the region:

• Lines are 12" and smaller
• 1030 BTU per cubic foot
• Firm gas available up to 60,000 therms per month
• Interruptible gas available
• Larger volume available with prior notification and approval
• Large gas users can purchase gas on the open market and pay a modest throughput fee to use the local utility district's delivery infrastructure

Ultra Pure Gases and Business Chemicals

Because of the presence of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, the region has a strong existing network of business chemicals and gases providers including ultra-pure gases.