Knoxville, Tennessee Power Outage Today

How reliable is Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) service in Knoxville?

Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) is a city-owned utility with 220,632 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.86 interruptions and 352 minutes (about 5.9 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.2 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 45% of that time. Without them the average is 193 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.2 hours.

For comparison, Tennessee as a whole averaged 279 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) above the state average.

Among the 52 utilities in Tennessee with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) ranks 37th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 30% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Knoxville

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 317 storm reports for Knox County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (191), flash flood (62), hail (44), and flood (15). The busiest full year was 2023 with 47 reports and the quietest was 2015 with 12, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (71 since 2015), followed by June and August. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 7 storm episodes in Knox County since 2015, most often in March. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Knoxville do to the grid:

• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.

Storm reports that name Knoxville

Within Knox County, 79 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Knoxville as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (51), flash flood (15), flood (6), and hail (5). That is about 25% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Knoxville are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2016 with 13. These reports record 2 deaths in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Knoxville without power:

• June 11, 2023 (thunderstorm wind): “Multiple reports of fallen down trees and power outages around downtown Knoxville through eastern portions of Knox County.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• May 6, 2022 (thunderstorm wind): “Multiple trees and power lines were blown down in west Knoxville.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 25, 2018 (thunderstorm wind): “Trees and power lines were reported down in the eastern part of Knoxville.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Knoxville

74.9% of occupied homes in Knoxville are heated with electricity (US 41.3%). In a winter outage those homes lose heat the moment the power fails, and electric furnaces and heat pumps are too large to run from a portable generator. Warm layers, blankets and a plan for where to stay matter more here than in a gas-heated city.

Residents aged 65 or older are 14.4% of the population in Knoxville, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13.7% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 44% of the housing in Knoxville was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 53.4% of households rent (US 34.8%), so many residents depend on a landlord to restore building systems and cannot add a generator or battery themselves.

Median household income in Knoxville is $54,039, below the Tennessee figure of $69,595. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Knoxville

The average Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) home used about 1,093 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.5 kW around the clock, and paid about 12.5 cents per kWh (12.4 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $137 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 3.2 hours takes about 1.3 kWh. A portable power station or a power bank covers that; a generator is more than most households here need for a typical outage.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Knoxville

About 190,740 people live in Knoxville, the 3rd largest of the 10 Tennessee cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB)’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Knoxville power outage map

Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Knoxville power outage questions