EPB
EPB of Chattanooga, formerly known as the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, is an American electric power distribution and telecommunications company owned by the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee.[2] EPB serves nearly 180,000 homes and businesses in a 600-square mile area in the greater Chattanooga area and Hamilton County.[3] In 2010, EPB was the first company in the United States to offer 1 Gbit/s high-speed internet over a fiber optic network, over 200 times faster than the national average.[4] As a result, Chattanooga has been called "Gig City" and held up as a national model for deploying the world's fastest internet and the most advanced Smart Grid electric distribution system in the United States.[5] On October 15, 2015, Chattanooga implemented the world's first community-wide 10-gig Internet service.[6][7][8]
This article is about the utility company. For other uses, see EPB (disambiguation).Company type
Electricity
Telecommunications
Chattanooga Electric Power Board
1935
Southeastern Tennessee, Chattanooga, North Georgia
Electricity, Internet, Telecommunications, Cable TV services
In 1935, an act of the Tennessee Legislature established EPB as an independent board of the City of Chattanooga to provide electric power to the Greater Chattanooga area. EPB began serving their customers in 1939.[9]
Community impact[edit]
In July 2020, EPB and its community partners announced HCS EdConnect, a program to provide the families of all economically challenged K–12 students with high-speed internet and a wireless router at no charge. The program was designed to ensure internet access for all K–12 students in need for at least ten years, with plans to raise the funding necessary to continue the program indefinitely.[34]
In January 2021, an independent study conducted by Bento Lobo, Ph.D. of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, documented $2.69 billion in benefits to the community during the first ten years after EPB built the community-wide fiber optic network and advanced smart grid.[35] According to the study, the implementation of EPB's fiber optic system has helped generate an estimated 9,516 jobs and $244 million in business ventures using the fiber optic network."[36]
Environmental efforts[edit]
According to Dr. Bento Lobo's study in 2021, the construction of Chattanooga's smart grid helped avoid 7,900 tons of CO2 emissions from 2014 to 2020 by allowing a significant reduction in road miles driven as well as enhanced power demand management and power factor improvement.[37]
In 2015, EPB partnered with TVA and other partners to provide home energy renovations at no charge to economically challenged homeowners through what is now called the "Home Uplift" program. In April 2021, EPB and its partners announced the completion of its 400th "Home Uplift." According to third-party analysis, each of the 400 homes saves 5,206 kWh on average each year which equates to more than $208,000 in total savings to customers and the avoidance of 1,472 metric tons of carbon emissions.[38]
In July 2017, EPB completed the construction of Solar Share, Chattanooga's first and only community solar installation.[39] The facility consists of 4,408 solar panels that can generate 1.3 megawatts of solar power, which is enough to meet the average energy needs of 130 homes.[40]
In October 2019, EPB's Solar Share community solar installation powered the 3rd International Placemaking Week Conference, making it Chattanooga's first conference with net-zero carbon.[41]
In November 2019, EPB earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the Gold level for an existing building.[42] The certification reflects EPB's success in dramatically reducing its environmental impact through energy efficiency, reduced water use, diverting waste from landfills through composting and recycling, and other measures.[43]