Where Tennessee Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 20.5% | 16,654 GWh |
| Coal | 21.5% | 17,477 GWh |
| Nuclear | 46.2% | 37,557 GWh |
| Wind | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Solar | 2.2% | 1,786 GWh |
| Hydro | 9.7% | 7,877 GWh |
| Other | -0.0% | -4 GWh |
81.3 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 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
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 85 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 2.2% to 2.3%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| 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 | 12.5% | 58.6% | Nuclear 46.2% |
| U.S. average | 25.2% | 42.9% | Natural gas 40.7% |
| Missouri | 15.0% | 28.6% | Coal |
| North Carolina | 14.3% | 45.0% | Natural gas |
| Arkansas | 13.8% | 34.6% | Natural gas |
| Virginia | 13.8% | 40.3% | Natural gas |
| Georgia | 12.5% | 47.0% | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | 8.7% | 8.7% | Coal |
| Alabama | 8.3% | 40.5% | Natural gas |
| Mississippi | 6.7% | 19.8% | Natural gas |
Tennessee's generation mix in context
Nuclear power generated 45.4% of Tennessee's electricity since June 2025, making it by far the largest source. Carbon-free generation — nuclear combined with renewables — supplied 57.8% of the total, well above the national average of 42.6%. Solar accounted for 2.0% of generation from utility-scale facilities, or 2.1% when rooftop solar is included. Renewables as a whole made up 12.5% of the state's mix, a share that ranks 37th among the 51 states and DC with generation data.
The generation mix has undergone a dramatic transformation since 2001. Coal fell from 62.1% in 2001 to 24.2% in 2025, while gas surged from 0.5% to 23.5% over the same span. Nuclear rose from 29.7% to 39.3%, and hydro climbed from 7.2% to 11.2%. Solar emerged as a source, reaching 1.8% in 2025. Renewable generation increased from 8.1% in 2001 to 13.6% in 2025, a gain of 5.5 percentage points.
Tennessee's renewable share of 12.5% falls below most neighbours — Kentucky at 8.6% and Alabama at 8.4% have lower shares, while Missouri, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, and Georgia all exceed it. Georgia matches Tennessee's renewable share exactly. Across the nation, gas leads with 40.8% of generation and renewables reach 24.9%, far exceeding both Tennessee's renewable output and the state's reliance on gas at 20.7%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Tennessee's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Tennessee's power comes from solar?
›Where does Tennessee get most of its electricity?
›Does Tennessee still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Tennessee getting greener?
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 June 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.