06-02-2025
‘$500 plus bill': Nashville residents report spike in January electric bills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — January brought cold temperatures and expensive electric bills for some residents.
'You come out of Christmas, you come out of the holidays, and suddenly you have a $500 plus bill just for electricity,' expressed Rebecca Rabon, a Nashville resident.
In January 2024, Rabon said she paid $267 for electricity. She is now one of several Nashvillians whose electric bills spiked last month.
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Another resident said his bill rose from $170 in December 2024 to $220 in January 2025.
'That's a little high for me,' said Nashville resident Steve Cirkvencic.
'What was really weird is I felt like it had gotten colder than that before, and it hasn't gotten that expensive,' Rabon explained.
Temperatures in Nashville dropped below zero in January 2024, but some customers told News 2 their latest bills are even higher than last January's.
'Usually, when I get that kind of bill, it is zero or stayed around zero single digits for a number of days,' Cirkvencic said. 'We clearly didn't have that kind of weather, and that is the kind of bill I got. So that kind of raises some questions for me.'
'Even if your thermostat remains at a constant temperature, energy bills will fluctuate according to outside temperatures,' the Nashville Electric Service (NES) said in a statement.
In August, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) approved a 5.25% rate hike to help pay for a new plant to keep up with growth.
'So that means we start now to power this growth because it takes sometimes upwards of decades to build power plants, so if we get behind now, we will never catch up,' said Scott Fiedler with TVA.
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NES said though they try to limit price increases, TVA's increased wholesale rates are passed on to NES customers.
'NES strives to limit increases to 3% – 5% every three to five years to cover the rising costs of serving Middle Tennessee,' the company said in a statement.
TVA and NES said there are things you can do to decrease your electricity bill, including changing your HVAC filter, weather-stripping and caulking your home, closing blinds at night to keep heat in, and turning down the thermostat.
'When it is really cold in the winter, we really recommend setting it to what you are comfortable with,' Fiedler advised. 'Some people like it everywhere from 65 to 75 degrees, but again, the lower that you can go for every degree, you can save about 3% on your power bill. So it is about how much you can save and how much you feel comfortable.'
Some residents say they are now working to make sure there are no cracks in their homes for the cold air to enter.
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'I just got a new HVAC unit so I am sure that is going to be helpful,' Cirkvencic said.
'Just looking at weather-proofing products because I do think, like with LED technology, things like that, a lot of those things are a lot safer than they used to be and a lot less expensive,' Rabon added.
NES said that if you need more help managing the cold temperatures or paying bills, they offer programs like balanced billing, a home uplift, project help, and the power of change.
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