Tennessee energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Tennessee

Tennessee plants pay 6.95 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Apr 2026, which puts the state 19.7% under the national average and 8 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in Tennessee

  • Industrial electricity: 6.95 cents per kWh (Apr 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Tennessee typically pays: 14.07 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 5.86 per Mcf (Apr 2026), 19.6% above the national average.
  • Just below Tennessee on the price ladder: New Mexico at 6.27, Texas at 6.33, Georgia at 6.84 cents. Just above: Washington at 7.01, Louisiana at 7.16, Arizona at 7.23 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,780 in electricity at Tennessee rates versus 3,464 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 13,900 versus 17,320, and at 200 kW it is 55,600 versus 69,280.
  • For site selection and quoting, Tennessee sits on the favorable side of the power map. Processes that live or die on electricity cost, from electrolysis to induction heating, price out better here than in most states.

What factory labor pays in Tennessee

  • Industrial production managers: $57.42/hr median in Tennessee versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $47.64/hr median in Tennessee versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $31.40/hr median in Tennessee versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $31.26/hr median in Tennessee versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $29.21/hr median in Tennessee versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • CNC tool operators: $24.03/hr median in Tennessee versus $24.37 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tennessee employs about 355,000 manufacturing workers as of May 2026 (BLS).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's Tennessee observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.