States › Tennessee › Volunteer Electric Coop
electric cooperative · EIA utility 19898
Volunteer Electric Coop
Average price is revenue divided by sales for the sector and year; it is not a tariff rate. Reliability figures are as reported by utilities to EIA on Form 861 and may use different calculation methods. Annual figures: Form EIA-861 for 2024, final release. Monthly state figures run to July 2026.
Volunteer Electric Coop is an electric cooperative that reported 104,387 residential customers in Tennessee on Form EIA-861 for 2024, with a service territory that touches 15 counties.
Its average residential price that year was 12.19¢ per kilowatthour, about the same as the Tennessee average of 12.42¢ and 26% below the US average of 16.48¢. The figure is residential revenue divided by residential sales, so it folds in fixed charges, riders and every rate schedule the utility bills under.
That works out to an average residential bill of $144.20 a month on average use of 1,183 kWh a month. Across Tennessee the average bill was $143.32 on 1,154 kWh, so a bill gap reflects how much power households use as well as what each kilowatthour costs.
For reliability it reported a SAIDI of 684.8 minutes per customer with major event days included and 435.7 minutes with them excluded, calculated under IEEE 1366 standard. The median among Tennessee utilities reporting was 270.1 minutes with major event days; this utility's figure is 154% above that median.
The average price is up 11.1% on 2019, against up 14.3% for Tennessee as a whole, and up 3.3% on 2023.
Compared with Tennessee, the US and other electric cooperatives
| Measure, 2024 | This utility | Electric cooperatives, US median | Tennessee | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average residential price per kWh | 12.19¢ | 13.74¢ | 12.42¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly residential bill | $144.20 | $149.95 | $143.32 | $142.26 |
| Average monthly use, kWh | 1,183 | 1,126 | 1,154 | 863 |
| Residential price change, 1 year | +3.3% | — | +1.9% | +3.0% |
| Residential price change, 5 years | +11.1% | — | +14.3% | +26.7% |
| SAIDI, all events (minutes) | 684.8 | 263.0 | 270.1 median | 184.5 median |
| SAIDI, without major event days | 435.7 | 147.0 | 138.4 median | 99.8 median |
State and US prices, bills and use are EIA's own averages over every customer. The ownership column and the reliability columns are medians across utilities with at least 1,000 residential customers, computed on this site from the final 2024 file. Among the 25 filings by electric cooperatives in Tennessee, the median price was 12.90¢. In Tennessee this utility's price ranks 45 of 85, counting from the highest.
Average price by year
Volunteer Electric CoopTennessee averageUS average
Year by year
| Year | ¢ per kWh | Tennessee ¢ | Monthly bill | kWh a month | Residential customers | All sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12.19¢ | 12.42¢ | $144.20 | 1,183 | 104,387 | 2.6 TWh |
| 2023 | 11.80¢ | 12.19¢ | $132.39 | 1,122 | 103,320 | 2.5 TWh |
| 2022 | 12.02¢ | 12.25¢ | $144.35 | 1,201 | 101,929 | 2.6 TWh |
| 2021 | 10.93¢ | 11.07¢ | $129.73 | 1,187 | 100,868 | 2.4 TWh |
| 2020 | 10.71¢ | 10.76¢ | $125.52 | 1,172 | 98,919 | 2.3 TWh |
| 2019 | 10.97¢ | 10.87¢ | $132.89 | 1,211 | 97,810 | 2.3 TWh |
| 2018 | 10.92¢ | 10.71¢ | $138.64 | 1,270 | 96,938 | 2.4 TWh |
| 2017 | 10.95¢ | 10.72¢ | $124.48 | 1,136 | 96,151 | 2.2 TWh |
| 2016 | 10.73¢ | 10.41¢ | $131.80 | 1,229 | 95,601 | 2.3 TWh |
| 2015 | 10.56¢ | 10.30¢ | $129.87 | 1,229 | 94,947 | 2.3 TWh |
| 2014 | 10.60¢ | 10.32¢ | $136.11 | 1,284 | 94,375 | 2.3 TWh |
| 2013 | 10.31¢ | 9.98¢ | $127.83 | 1,240 | 93,783 | 2.2 TWh |
Bundled residential service only in the price, bill and use columns. Bill = residential revenue ÷ customers ÷ 12; use = residential sales ÷ customers ÷ 12.
Month by month
Volunteer Electric CoopTennessee average
Sales by sector, 2024
| Sector | Customers | Sales | Share of sales | Revenue | ¢ per kWh, bundled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | 104,387 | 1.5 TWh | 58% | $180,630,000 | 12.19¢ |
| Commercial | 24,098 | 628.8 GWh | 25% | $79,529,000 | 12.65¢ |
| Industrial | 17 | 456.2 GWh | 18% | $27,334,000 | 5.99¢ |
Customers, sales and revenue count every service type the utility reported (bundled, energy-only and delivery-only). The price column uses bundled service alone, because part-bill revenue would understate it. Sources of energy: 2.7 TWh in total, of which 0% was its own net generation and 2.7 TWh was bought wholesale; summer peak demand 537 MW.
Reliability
Minutes of sustained interruption per customer in 2024, as the utility reported them under IEEE 1366 standard. SAIFI: 5.80 interruptions per customer with major event days, 5.02 without; CAIDI 118.1 minutes per interruption. EIA's Tennessee total across all reporting utilities was 278.6 minutes with major event days and 159.5 without. Major event days are storms and similar events that a utility's chosen method sets apart; methods differ, so treat comparisons as approximate. What SAIDI and SAIFI mean.
| Year | SAIDI, all events | SAIDI, no major events | SAIFI, all events | SAIFI, no major events | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 684.8 | 435.7 | 5.80 | 5.02 | IEEE 1366 |
| 2023 | 1,056.7 | 429.5 | 6.37 | 5.15 | IEEE 1366 |
| 2022 | 523.4 | 402.5 | 4.56 | 4.09 | IEEE 1366 |
| 2021 | 516.3 | 320.4 | 5.13 | 4.64 | IEEE 1366 |
| 2020 | 271.5 | 52.1 | 2.74 | 2.25 | IEEE 1366 |
Counties in its service territory
- Bledsoe County
- Bradley County
- Cumberland County
- Fentress County
- Hamilton County
- McMinn County
- Meigs County
- Overton County
- Pickett County
- Polk County
- Putnam County
- Rhea County
- Roane County
- Scott County
- White County
Counties the utility listed on Form EIA-861 for 2024. Listing a county does not mean the utility serves all of it.
Other utilities in Tennessee
| Utility | Ownership | Residential customers | ¢ per kWh | Monthly bill | SAIDI, all events | SAIDI, no major events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland Elec Member Corp | Cooperative | 100,585 | 12.99¢ | $176.97 | 220.3 | 130.2 |
| Duck River Elec Member Corp | Cooperative | 71,342 | 12.50¢ | $168.56 | 276.1 | 161.4 |
| Upper Cumberland E M C | Cooperative | 45,560 | 12.77¢ | $150.57 | — | — |
| Tri-County Elec Member Corp (TN) | Cooperative | 45,353 | 12.41¢ | $148.92 | 382.9 | 242.8 |
| Southwest Tennessee E M C | Cooperative | 43,750 | 12.90¢ | $166.51 | — | — |
| Appalachian Electric Coop | Cooperative | 43,709 | 12.93¢ | $157.98 | 927.0 | 295.0 |
| Middle Tennessee E M C | Cooperative | 307,370 | 11.76¢ | $148.33 | 49.4 | 41.8 |
| Sequachee Valley Electric Coop | Cooperative | 33,206 | 12.97¢ | $148.25 | 300.7 | 253.3 |
All Tennessee utilities · Electric cooperatives nationwide
Questions and answers
How much does electricity cost from Volunteer Electric Coop?
Residential customers paid an average of 12.19¢ per kilowatthour in 2024. EIA derives this by dividing residential revenue by residential sales; it is an average across all rate schedules and charges, not a tariff rate.
How does that compare with Tennessee?
The Tennessee average residential price in 2024 was 12.42¢ and the US average 16.48¢; Volunteer Electric Coop was about the same as the state figure. Among 85 utility filings with a bundled residential price in Tennessee, it had the 45th highest.
What is the average Volunteer Electric Coop bill?
$144.20 a month in 2024, on average residential use of 1,183 kWh a month (annual revenue and sales divided by customers and by twelve). The Tennessee average was $143.32 on 1,154 kWh.
How reliable is Volunteer Electric Coop service?
It reported 684.8 minutes of interruption per customer (SAIDI) including major event days and 435.7 minutes excluding them, with 5.80 interruptions per customer (SAIFI) in 2024. Utilities calculate these under differing methods, so comparisons are approximate.
Is the Volunteer Electric Coop price rising?
The average residential price was up 3.3% in 2024 compared with 2023 and up 11.1% compared with 2019.
Which counties does Volunteer Electric Coop serve?
Its Form EIA-861 service territory lists 15 counties, including Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Hamilton County, TN and McMinn County, TN. A county can appear in several utilities' territories.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Annual figures are from Form EIA-861 (sales to ultimate customers, reliability, operational data and service territory files), final release for 2024, respondent "Volunteer Electric Coop", utility number 19898. Monthly utility figures are from the Form EIA-861M sample. State and US averages are from the Form EIA-861M sales and revenue workbook, published through July 2026. All are US government works in the public domain. Page built 1 Oct 2026. Errors in processing are corrected at the next build; see corrections. For tariffs and rate schedules, consult the utility or the state utility commission.