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Where Tennessee Gets Its Electricity

Name: Tennessee Electricity Generation by Fuel Source
Creator: U.S. Energy Information Administration
License: https://www.eia.gov/about/copyrights_reuse.php

Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.

Renewable

13.0%

35th highest of the 50 states and DC

Carbon-free

58.5%

Renewables plus nuclear

Largest source

Nuclear

45.6%

Generation mix

21%

46%

Tennessee electricity generation by source, September 2025 – August 2026
Source	Share	Generation
Natural gas	20.8%	17,165 GWh
Coal	21.3%	17,572 GWh
Nuclear	45.6%	37,661 GWh
Wind	0.0%	0 GWh
Solar	2.5%	2,060 GWh
Hydro	9.9%	8,159 GWh
Other	0.0%	8 GWh

82.6 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 2026. Shares are of net generation within Tennessee, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.

Counting rooftop solar

Utility-scale solar

2.5%

Including rooftop

2.6%

EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Tennessee generated 86 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 2.5% to 2.6%.

How the mix has shifted since 2001

Share of generation by source in 2001 and 2025
Source	2001	2025	Change
Natural gas	0.5%	23.5%	+23.0 pts
Coal	62.1%	24.2%	−37.9 pts
Nuclear	29.7%	39.3%	+9.6 pts
Wind	0.0%	0.0%	—
Solar	0.0%	1.8%	+1.8 pts
Hydro	7.2%	11.2%	+4.0 pts
Other	0.5%	0.1%	−0.4 pts

Compared with the U.S. and nearby states

Where	Renewable	Carbon-free	Largest source
Tennessee	13.0%	58.5%	Nuclear 45.6%
U.S. average	25.4%	43.0%	Natural gas 40.9%
Missouri	15.5%	29.3%	Coal
Arkansas	14.8%	35.6%	Natural gas
Virginia	13.9%	40.7%	Natural gas
North Carolina	13.8%	44.1%	Natural gas
Georgia	12.4%	46.8%	Natural gas
Kentucky	9.4%	9.4%	Coal
Alabama	8.1%	40.0%	Natural gas
Mississippi	6.7%	19.8%	Natural gas

Tennessee's generation mix in context

Nuclear supplied 45.6% of Tennessee's electricity generation in the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, making it by far the largest source. Coal and gas together provided most of the remainder, at 21.3% and 20.8% respectively. Hydroelectric generation accounted for 9.9%, while solar contributed 2.5% of utility-scale generation, or 2.6% when rooftop solar is included. Renewable sources made up 13% of the state's total generation, leaving Tennessee ranked 35th of the 50 states and DC. Carbon-free generation—renewables plus nuclear—reached 58.5%, well above the national average of 43%.

The composition of Tennessee's electricity mix has shifted markedly since 2001. Coal's share collapsed from 62.1% in 2001 to 24.2% in 2025, while gas expanded from nearly nothing at 0.5% to 23.5% over the same span. Nuclear's contribution grew from 29.7% to 39.3%, and renewables as a whole rose from 8.1% in 2001 to 13.6% in 2025, driven largely by hydroelectric growth and the emergence of solar generation at 1.8% by 2025.

Tennessee's renewable share of 13% trails most of its neighbours. Four bordering states—Missouri, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina—have higher renewable shares, while four others including Kentucky and Alabama generate less. Nationally, renewables account for 25.4%, placing Tennessee well below the country's average. The state generates far less from solar than the nation's 7.6%, ranking 36th among the 50 states and DC, and produces no wind power, whereas wind supplies 10.8% to US generation overall.

Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.

Frequently asked questions

›What percentage of Tennessee's electricity comes from renewable energy?

13.0% of the electricity generated in Tennessee comes from renewable sources — wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass — over the 12 months to August 2026. That compares with 25.4% nationally. Counting nuclear as well, 58.5% of Tennessee's generation is carbon-free.

›What percentage of Tennessee's power comes from solar?

Utility-scale solar farms supply 2.5% of Tennessee's electricity generation. Adding small-scale rooftop solar, which EIA reports separately and leaves out of the state total, takes it to 2.6%. Nationally, utility-scale solar is 7.6%.

›Where does Tennessee get most of its electricity?

Nuclear is the largest single source of electricity generated in Tennessee, at 45.6% of the total. The rest breaks down as natural gas 20.8%, coal 21.3%, solar 2.5%, hydro 9.9%.

›Does Tennessee still burn coal for electricity?

Yes. Coal supplies 21.3% of Tennessee's electricity generation, compared with 15.4% nationally. In 2001 it was 62.1%, so the share has fallen since.

›Is Tennessee getting greener?

Renewables have gone from 8.1% of Tennessee's generation in 2001 to 13.6% in 2025, a rise of 5.5 percentage points. Over the same period coal went from 62.1% to 24.2% and natural gas from 0.5% to 23.5%.

How this is measured

Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to August 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.

“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.

This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.