{"id":1842,"date":"2026-08-16T00:09:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T00:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2026-08-16T00:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T00:09:51","slug":"why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability-in-tennessee-has-improved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/08\/16\/why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability-in-tennessee-has-improved\/","title":{"rendered":"Why UTC research says electricity affordability in Tennessee has improved"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that a new UTC Center for Regional Economic Research white paper finds Tennessee electricity is more affordable relative to household income despite rising rates. Median households spent 2.6% of income on electricity in 2024, down from 3.6% in 2010, as incomes rose and consumption declined. The research, by EPB Community Economist and UTC fellow William Plank, also notes that 17% of households still face high or severe energy burdens. &gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesfreepress.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/15\/why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.timesfreepress.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/15\/why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability\/\">Read More<\/a>&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that a new UTC Center for Regional Economic Research white paper finds Tennessee electricity is more affordable relative to household income despite rising rates. Median households spent 2.6% of income on electricity in 2024, down from 3.6% in 2010, as incomes rose and consumption declined. The research, by EPB&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/08\/16\/why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability-in-tennessee-has-improved\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2031,"featured_media":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23,60,25,581,28,22],"tags":[145,360,924],"class_list":{"0":"post-1842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-gary-w-rollins-college-of-business","9":"category-media","10":"category-research","11":"category-subject-matter-expert","12":"category-times-free-press","13":"category-topic","14":"tag-center-for-regional-economic-research","15":"tag-dr-howard-wall","16":"tag-william-plank","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why UTC research says electricity affordability in Tennessee has improved - UTC in the Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/08\/16\/why-utc-research-says-electricity-affordability-in-tennessee-has-improved\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why UTC research says electricity affordability in Tennessee has improved - UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that a new UTC Center for Regional Economic Research white paper finds Tennessee electricity is more affordable relative to household income despite rising rates. Median households spent 2.6% of income on electricity in 2024, down from 3.6% in 2010, as incomes rose and consumption declined. 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