Winter Storm Fern and 14 other significant storms caused more than $13 million in damage to Chattanooga’s local electric grid. Throughout severe weather, EPB continued reducing outage impacts while keeping customers more informed than ever before.
When significant storms were in the forecast over the past year, EPB proactively brought in crews from other communities while EPB team members remained at the ready for rapid response.
When storms caused outages, EPB's automated, self-healing power grid rerouted power around the damage to minimize the impact on customers as much as possible. Over the course of the year, this prevented about 24 million minutes of outage time that would have otherwise kept customers in the dark. As a result, crews could focus on the physical repairs needed to restore other customers.
Through the MyEPB app and a new text and email notification system, EPB now provides customers with real-time outage updates, restoration estimates and revised timelines when conditions change. Since launching the new system in fall 2025, EPB has sent more than 254,000 notifications.
With the launch of the region's first 5 Gig internet service and a standalone 2.5 Gig tier in June 2026, EPB is responding to growing customer interest in multi-gig connectivity while continuing to deliver the unmatched value available from the area's only 100% fiber optic network.
More than 60,000 EPB Fiber Optics customers subscribe to Gig or multi-gig internet, and that number is growing. Today's average home runs more than 20 connected devices simultaneously, including laptops, smartphones, streaming platforms, gaming systems, smart security and more. EPB's expanded lineup gives customers the bandwidth to keep everything running without lag or buffering.
EPB also updated its internet offerings so customers can easily add 2-3 times as much bandwidth for as little as $10/month. For example, upgrading from "The Gig" ($67.99/month) to 2.5 Gig ($77.99) gives customers more than twice as much bandwidth. All EPB internet offerings come with free professional installation by EPB Tech Pros℠ and the option of adding Smart Net Plus to maximize WiFi performance, security and parental controls.
EPB has never increased residential internet pricing while providing several speed increases at no extra charge. By investing in multi-gig innovation and keeping service straightforward and affordable, EPB continues to support digital access, economic opportunity and quality of life for every home and business across its 600-square-mile service area.
As the community's energy experts, EPB Energy Pros help customers save money on their energy bill by providing free expert guidance, making it easier for households to manage their energy use and invest in home improvements.
Through the TVA EnergyRight® rebate program during the last fiscal year, EPB Energy Pros helped local EPB residential customers tap into more than $893,000 in rebates to make energy saving renovations that also improved home values. EPB's free expert energy guidance helped local companies gain more than $720,000 in rebates. Better yet, all participating customers will continue to receive the benefit of lower energy bills for years to come.
By helping both residential and business customers reduce their energy costs, EPB Energy Pros help make energy more affordable for local households while contributing to long-term economic growth across the community.
To respond even more quickly to customer needs, EPB marked a major milestone this year with the opening of Operations Center (OC) East. Located in eastern Hamilton County, EPB's newest operations facility places EPB team members, vehicles and equipment within minutes of areas that have seen tremendous population growth and business investment in recent years.
As a result, OC East allows EPB to deploy resources more quickly while also increasing operational efficiency and reducing fuel costs. All these factors help EPB keep costs lower for customers over time.
The facility includes 10,000 square feet of office space, 32,000 square feet of indoor storage, and 110,000 square feet of covered storage. The site also contains space for future enhancements, such as additional generators or energy storage, to further strengthen reliability.
In addition, OC East provides full operational redundancy, so EPB can shift operations to this new facility if the main Operations Center is damaged or disrupted.
Customers in some of the neighborhoods most affected by power outages are already seeing the benefits of a multi-year EPB initiative to strategically move some utility lines underground. The project is designed to deliver more reliable service today while helping keep costs lower for customers over time.
Starting from a long-standing effort to enhance resilience by hardening infrastructure, EPB was able to win a U.S. Department of Energy Grid Resilience Innovation Partnerships grant. This allows EPB to do twice as much undergrounding as it was already planning to do without impacting costs for customers.
In addition to reducing outages for customers, the project also strengthens the local economy because EPB is engaging locally based contractors to complete the work. By employing and hiring local people, these companies are supporting local job creation and economic opportunity.
