Study Says Chattanooga Fiber Network Generated $5.3 Billion in Regional Economic Gains

Nov. 24, 2025 — Electric Power Board, the city-owned electric and fiber utility that operates Chattanooga’s fiber-to-the-home network, generated $5.3 billion in community benefits since launching its fiber and automated grid systems in 2010, according to a new study from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The peer-reviewed analysis measured avoided outage costs, job growth, tax contributions and educational improvements connected to EPB’s infrastructure investments.

Researchers found the automated grid sharply reduced power disruptions and helped anchor Chattanooga’s push to attract technology firms and research activity over the past decade.

Bento Lobo, the economist at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who led the study, said the combined grid and fiber projects returned more than six times their original cost. Local officials said the findings reflected how early adoption of fiber infrastructure reshaped the region’s economy.

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said the network made the city more competitive for startups and remote workers. Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp pointed to EPB’s role in connecting students through HCS EdConnect, which provides free fiber service to households with children in the county public school system.

The report said EPB supported more than 10,400 jobs between 2011 and 2024 and generated more than $84 million in payments-in-lieu-of-taxes to local governments. It also said grid automation prevented hundreds of millions of minutes in outage time and helped customers avoid nearly $1 billion in related costs.

The study projected another $5 billion in community benefit through 2035 as EPB expands its quantum and next-generation fiber initiatives, repositioning itself from “gig city” to “quantum city.”