Tennessee energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Tennessee

Tennessee plants pay 7.13 cents per kWh for industrial power as of Jul 2026, which puts the state 27% under the national average and 4 of 51 in the country, counting from the cheapest.

Current prices in Tennessee

  • Industrial electricity: 7.13 cents per kWh (Jul 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Tennessee typically pays: 13.43 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 6.47 per Mcf (Jul 2026), 41.3% above the national average.
  • Just below Tennessee on the price ladder: New Mexico at 4.16, Louisiana at 6.08, Texas at 7.07 cents. Just above: Kentucky at 7.51, Washington at 7.51, Mississippi at 7.66 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,852 in electricity at Tennessee rates versus 3,908 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 14,260 versus 19,540, and at 200 kW it is 57,040 versus 78,160.
  • 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 353,000 manufacturing workers as of Aug 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in Tennessee

  • Tennessee has 5,787 manufacturing establishments employing about 357,878 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (1,036), printing and related support (491), food manufacturing (464), wood product manufacturing (435), machinery manufacturing (390).

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 2026-09-30.