Cumberland EMC rates per kWh and Tennessee's highest large-utility bill
Cumberland EMC's 101,734 residential customers in Tennessee paid an average of 13.76¢ per kWh in 2025, for an average bill of $197.71 a month on 1,437 kWh.1 Over the last 12 months (Sep 2025–Aug 2026) the average was 13.93¢, and 13.56¢ in August 2026.2
EIA-861 2025 final (released October 7, 2026) and EIA's monthly utility survey through August 2026 (preliminary); next monthly update expected November 24, 2026. Averages are revenue divided by kWh, all charges included: not the rate printed in a tariff.
6 of 95 Tennessee counties served (EIA-861 2025)
In 2025 Cumberland EMC's residential members paid 13.76¢ per kWh on average, only a little more than the Tennessee figure. Their homes drew 1,437 kWh a month, though, the most of any Tennessee utility with 100,000 or more residential customers, so the average bill of $197.711 was the largest of the seven. In February 2026 it reached $283.262.
Cumberland EMC's price per kWh: three dated readings
Registered with EIA as Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, this electric cooperative belongs to its members, of whom 101,7341 were residential accounts in 2025. Each price below is average revenue per kWh: dollars billed to a customer class divided by that class's kWh. Because the fixed monthly charge sits inside that quotient, it is no tariff line; small users end up with a higher per-kWh average than heavy users.
- Calendar 2025 (EIA-861, final): 13.76¢ per kWh1, up from 12.99¢ per kWh3 in 2024.
- Trailing 12 months, September 2025 to August 2026 (EIA-861M; 2026 data preliminary): 13.93¢ per kWh.
- August 20264 alone (preliminary): 13.56¢ per kWh, +0.3%2 against August 2025.
That 2025 figure was 4.1% above the Tennessee average. It placed 10th highest of 55 in-state utilities having 10,000 or more homes on their lines, a field spanning City of Bristol (11.54¢ per kWh) to City of Newport (15.05¢ per kWh). It sat above the state's other two large cooperatives, Middle Tennessee Electric (12.47¢ per kWh) and Volunteer Energy Cooperative (13.08¢ per kWh), and below Nashville Electric Service (14.04¢ per kWh). Nationally it sits lower: 56th lowest of 177 large US utilities (median 15.07¢ per kWh) and 2.4% below the national average for electric cooperatives1.
The bill is high because use is high
Price explains little of the bill. Monthly consumption per Cumberland EMC home averaged 1,437 kWh1 in 2025, above a Tennessee figure (1,180 kWh) that itself ranked 3rd highest nationally, and far above the US's 874 kWh5.
| Residential, 2025 | Average price per kWh | kWh per home each month | Bill per home each month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland EMC | 13.76¢ per kWh | 1,437 kWh | $197.711 |
| Tennessee, all utilities | 13.22¢ per kWh | 1,180 kWh | $156.03 |
| United States | 17.23¢ per kWh6 | 874 kWh | $150.685 |
The cooperative's members paid less per kWh than the US average and still had a larger bill, because they used well over half as much electricity again. Across the seven Tennessee utilities with 100,000 or more residential customers, bills ran from $144.47 at EPB to $197.711 here.
Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. EIA-861 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh is all charges divided by kWh; it is not a tariff rate.
Show the numbers
| Utility | average monthly residential bill |
|---|---|
| EPB (TN) | $144.47 |
| Nashville Electric Service (TN) | $146.00 |
| MLGW (TN) | $151.19 |
| Knoxville Utilities Board (TN) | $153.38 |
| Volunteer Energy Cooperative (TN) | $158.32 |
| Middle Tennessee Electric (TN) | $161.57 |
| Cumberland EMC (TN) | $197.71 |
Why consumption is so high here is not something EIA's utility files answer: they carry no data on house size, housing type or heating fuel by utility. The Census Bureau's 2025 survey puts electric primary heating at 63.2% of households across Tennessee (6th highest7; an estimate with a margin of error), and the winter-heavy monthly pattern below fits that.
Winter, not summer, sets the largest bills
Within September 2025 to August 2026, the heaviest month was February 2026: 2,219 kWh per home and a $283.26 bill. The lightest was May 2026: 1,000 kWh and $150.572. Use in the peak month was more than twice that of the lowest, and the peak bill was the highest monthly average at any of those seven large utilities over the same 12 months.
Source: EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by utility. kWh per residential customer in each month (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary). The table adds the average bill and price for the month.
Show the numbers
| Month | kWh per customer | Bill per customer | ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 1,361 | $190.05 | 13.96¢ |
| October 2025 | 1,107 | $152.17 | 13.75¢ |
| November 2025 | 1,074 | $149.57 | 13.92¢ |
| December 2025 | 1,633 | $213.66 | 13.08¢ |
| January 2026 | 1,632 | $217.09 | 13.30¢ |
| February 2026 | 2,219 | $283.26 | 12.77¢ |
| March 2026 | 1,109 | $178.77 | 16.12¢ |
| April 2026 | 1,065 | $165.75 | 15.57¢ |
| May 2026 | 1,000 | $150.57 | 15.06¢ |
| June 2026 | 1,376 | $197.42 | 14.34¢ |
| July 2026 | 1,636 | $227.72 | 13.92¢ |
| August 2026 | 1,753 | $237.84 | 13.56¢ |
Tennessee as a whole peaked in the same month (February 2026, 1,602 kWh4 per home), but at a lower level. For budgeting, the 12-month average bill of $197.062 understates what a cold month costs.
2025: price up, use up, bill up more
Between 2024 and 2025 two things rose at once. Price per kWh climbed +5.9% (12.99¢ per kWh to 13.76¢ per kWh), slightly under the statewide +6.4%6. Consumption per home grew from 1,362 kWh to 1,437 kWh monthly. The combined effect: a bill of $197.71, up +11.7% on $176.973, compared with +8.9% statewide and +5.9%5 nationally. Among the state's large utilities only Knoxville Utilities Board had a similar bill increase (+11.9%), and there it came mainly from price (+10.3%1).
Source: EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by utility; EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state. Residential revenue divided by kWh in each month, as reported to EIA's monthly survey (EIA-861M; months since January 2026 preliminary).
Show the numbers
| Month | Cumberland EMC (¢/kWh) | kWh per customer | Bill per customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | 12.98¢ | 1,946 | $252.53 |
| February 2025 | 12.95¢ | 1,912 | $247.68 |
| March 2025 | 14.35¢ | 1,400 | $200.94 |
| April 2025 | 14.99¢ | 1,034 | $154.98 |
| May 2025 | 14.65¢ | 1,020 | $149.46 |
| June 2025 | 14.65¢ | 1,260 | $184.67 |
| July 2025 | 13.75¢ | 1,699 | $233.63 |
| August 2025 | 13.52¢ | 1,805 | $244.07 |
| September 2025 | 13.96¢ | 1,361 | $190.05 |
| October 2025 | 13.75¢ | 1,107 | $152.17 |
| November 2025 | 13.92¢ | 1,074 | $149.57 |
| December 2025 | 13.08¢ | 1,633 | $213.66 |
| January 2026 | 13.30¢ | 1,632 | $217.09 |
| February 2026 | 12.77¢ | 2,219 | $283.26 |
| March 2026 | 16.12¢ | 1,109 | $178.77 |
| April 2026 | 15.57¢ | 1,065 | $165.75 |
| May 2026 | 15.06¢ | 1,000 | $150.57 |
| June 2026 | 14.34¢ | 1,376 | $197.42 |
| July 2026 | 13.92¢ | 1,636 | $227.72 |
| August 2026 | 13.56¢ | 1,753 | $237.84 |
The monthly series since then shows a flatter path. Through August 2026, the trailing 12-month price stood at 13.93¢ per kWh, slightly over the 2025 figure, while use per home over those months averaged 1,414 kWh, so the 12-month bill ($197.062) was about the same as in 2025. These 2026 months are preliminary; September 2026 data arrive with EIA's November 24, 2026 release.
Where Cumberland EMC's lines run
The cooperative appears in 6 counties in EIA's 2025 territory file, on the northern and western side of the Nashville area: Cheatham County, Dickson County, Montgomery County, Robertson County, Stewart County and Sumner County. Another distribution utility reports customers in 5 of those counties, leaving 18 where Cumberland EMC is the only one listed. Knowing the county or town, then, does not tell you the provider; Cumberland EMC's service-area map settles it address by address.
Source: EIA-861 2025, service territory; Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties. EIA-861 2025 service territory: 6 counties. Counts whole counties even where the utility serves only part of one; check the utility's own service-area map for an address.
Show the numbers
| County | Other utilities reporting service |
|---|---|
| Cheatham County | Nashville Electric Service, City of Dickson |
| Dickson County | City of Dickson |
| Montgomery County | City of Clarksville, City of Dickson |
| Robertson County | Nashville Electric Service, City of Springfield |
| Stewart County | none |
| Sumner County | Nashville Electric Service, Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation, City of Gallatin |
There is no competing supplier to switch to; EIA counted 0.0%1 of Tennessee homes buying from one in 2025. Behind the cooperative stands the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned corporation that, in EIA's description, covers most of Tennessee and supplies most of the state's electricity.
Outages, measured differently
Counting major events, the average member lost power for 221 minutes in 2025, fewer than the Tennessee average of 230 minutes, and 171 minutes excluding them, with 2.67 interruptions per member against 1.6310 per customer statewide. The cooperative reports to EIA using another method (not IEEE 1366), so which days count as major events may differ from utilities that use the IEEE 1366 standard; the totals are a guide, not an exact comparison. Metering is fully digital: 100.0% of residential meters were advanced (AMI) in 2025, compared with 96.2%11 across Tennessee.
Commercial and industrial accounts, and help with bills
Businesses paid slightly less per kWh than homes: 13.48¢ per kWh across 11,971 commercial accounts in 2025, whose bills averaged $555.40 a month. Just 29 industrial accounts paid 7.26¢ per kWh. Over all 113,734 accounts the average was 12.23¢ per kWh1, pulled down by the industrial load.
For a winter bill that is hard to pay, Tennessee's share of federal LIHEAP heating and cooling aid was $69.8 million12 in fiscal 2026; the guide to help with electric bills covers applying. For every utility in the state, see electricity in Tennessee.
Questions about Cumberland EMC rates and bills
What are Cumberland EMC's rates per kWh?
EIA publishes averages, not the lines of a tariff. For homes, the 2025 average came to 13.76¢ per kWh1, and the 12-month figure for September 2025 to August 2026 to 13.93¢ per kWh2 (2026 months preliminary). Each one spreads the fixed monthly charge and any adjustments over every kWh. The individual charges appear in the cooperative's own published schedule.
What is the average Cumberland EMC electric bill?
For calendar 2025, EIA's data give $197.71 monthly on 1,437 kWh1 of use. Across September 2025 to August 2026 it was $197.06, swinging from $149.57 in November 2025 to $283.26 in February 20262.
Did Cumberland EMC raise rates in 2025?
Measured by what homes actually paid, yes: 12.99¢ per kWh3 in 2024, 13.76¢ per kWh in 2025, a 5.9% increase. Bills climbed +11.7%1 because consumption grew too. For August 20264 (preliminary) EIA shows 13.56¢ per kWh, +0.3%2 compared with August 2025.
Why is my Cumberland EMC bill higher than a Nashville bill?
Mostly because of use, not price. In 2025 Nashville Electric Service customers paid more per kWh (14.04¢ per kWh against 13.76¢ per kWh) yet consumed 1,040 kWh monthly to the cooperative's 1,437 kWh, which left NES at $146.00 and Cumberland EMC at $197.711.
Related pages
Sources
- EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final; table Sales_Ult_Cust_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by utility; table sales_ult_cust_2025 and _2026; released October 23, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024 final; table Sales_Ult_Cust_2024; 2024, final (file updated December 3, 2025); released December 3, 2025. www.eia.gov
- EIA, Electric Power Monthly / EIA-861M sales and revenue by state; table sales_revenue.xlsx (EPM Table 5.6.A); January 2001 to 2026-08; months since January 2026 preliminary; released October 23, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 2025, average monthly bill by state; table Average_Bill_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA, Historical state data, annual sales, revenue and customers; table HS861 2010-.xlsx; 2010-2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year estimates, house heating fuel, table B25040; 2025; released October 29, 2026. data.census.gov
- EIA-861 2025, service territory; table Service_Territory_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- Census Bureau, Cartographic boundary file, counties; table cb_2025_us_county_5m; cb_2021_us_county_5m; 2025 (2021 for Connecticut). www.census.gov
- EIA-861 2025, reliability; table Reliability_2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- EIA-861 2025, advanced meters, dynamic pricing and net metering; table Advanced_Meters, Dynamic_Pricing, Net_Metering 2025; 2025, final; released October 7, 2026. www.eia.gov
- HHS, LIHEAP funding releases to states; table FY2027 first release; FY2026 final; FY2027 first release (October 9, 2026); FY2026 total; released October 9, 2026. acf.gov
Margins of error (±) are at the 90% confidence level. A difference is called significant only when it passes the Census Bureau's test at that level. How every figure is built: methodology. Found an error? Write to [email protected]; corrections are listed on the updates page.