How to Read Your Meter Reading your electric meter is a good way to know how much you're spending on electricity. Here in the Tennessee Valley our residential rates are among the lowest in the country. And together with your local power company, we'll continue to keep those rates low, while offering more competitive and more energy efficient ways to use that electricity.
Electricity is measured by kilowatt- hours.
As sort of a quick reference, a 100 watt light bulb burning for 10 hours uses one kilowatt-hour. Electric meters keep track of how many kilowatt-hours you've used. The hand on the dials move in the same direction as the counting order of the numbers on the dials. If you have a dial meter, you'll need to write down the number that each hand has just passed. To obtain your reading, start with the dial on the left and proceed right.