CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The average household in Chattanooga can expect to pay more for their power starting in October.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board has approved a more than 5 percent base rate increase.
And some argue this increase is not necessary.
This is the second rate hike from TVA in the last 12-months.
The rate change from last year was a 4.5 percent increase.
TVA says they approved this new rate hike to fund ongoing construction and energy development projects.
They say the average household spends about $140 on their energy bill.
With this change, people can expect to pay $4-5 more per month.
Environmental groups say TVA spends billions of dollars on fossil fuel projects, and claim this rate hike is not needed.
Amanda Garcia, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, says this will only hurt families who depend on the TVA for power.
“I do think this increase could have been avoided. TVA has been doubling down on investing in expensive, outdated fossil fuel plants across the region.”
Scott Fiedler with TVA says the rate hike is needed due to the rapid population growth.
“Across the region, we’re seeing tremendous growth, and to keep up with that growth, we’ve needed to increase rates, and all of that money will be used to invest back into the power system.”
According to TVA, the region’s population is growing three times faster than the national average, which is causing the price of energy to go up.
A graph from the world population review shows that Chattanooga is currently growing at a rate of 0.97% annually, and its population has increased by 4.01% since the most recent census in 2020.
But Garcia remains unconvinced that an increase was necessary.
“The increasing demand in the Tennessee valley is actually just another reason why TVA should be moving very rapidly to deploy energy efficiency demand response, these technologies that are proven and available now that can reduce that overall demand and also reduce overall power bills.”
Will these rate hikes continue? Fielder tells us…
“I don’t have a crystal ball for rates, but we think that we’re pretty stable right now.”
We reached out to EPB to see how it would effect their customer prices.
They told us their portion did not change, and they are not planning a rate increase this year.
However, TVA’s increase will cause bills to rise.
