KUB Tap & Connection Fees in Knoxville (2026)

Inside Knoxville, the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) provides water, wastewater, natural gas and electricity, so one utility sets every connection charge on a new house. For a new single-family home with a 5/8-inch meter and no existing service tap, KUB’s published minimums come to $2,700: a $1,000 water tap fee (Water Service Procedures, May 2025) and a $1,700 wastewater tap fee (Wastewater Charges and Fees, July 2025). Add KUB’s $200 minimum for a gas service line and $100 minimum for an electric service line and the four-utility total starts at $3,000. The caveat that matters most: every one of these amounts is printed as “not less than.” KUB can bill more for a long-side service, where the line has to cross the street, or for other site conditions, and any main or line extension is priced separately.

Knoxville tap and connection charges at a glance

The rows come from KUB’s Water, Gas and Electric Service Procedures (Appendix A of each) and its Wastewater Charges and Fees sheet. Read the tap rows as floors, not quotes. Water has two prices per meter size: a new service where KUB must also make the tap, and a lower one where the tap exists but no meter or box has been set. Extension rows have no dollar amount because KUB prices them case by case. We found no separate water or wastewater capacity charge, impact fee or “system development charge” in any of these KUB fee documents. Electric rows are marked for review because KUB now lists a newer electric document that we could not open.

Worked example for a single-family home in Knoxville

Assumptions: a detached house inside KUB’s service area, a 5/8-inch water meter, a gravity sewer main next to the lot, a short service on the house side of the street, and gas and electric service from KUB. Every figure below is a published minimum.

One-time KUB charges for one new single-family home, by situation. Sources: Water Service Procedures (May 2025), Wastewater Charges and Fees (July 2025), Gas Service Procedures (May 2025), Electric Service Procedures (May 2025). Private line construction not included.

The arithmetic for the first row is $1,000 + $1,700 = $2,700. A 1-inch meter raises the water tap to $1,400 (or $1,000 where the tap exists). If you dig the gas trench yourself, KUB’s customer-trenched minimum is $100 instead of $200, though KUB notes that different charges may apply. None of these totals includes the refundable $300 residential utility deposit or the $35 connection fee to start service, both covered below.

Knoxville vs. Nashville

Nashville’s Metro Water Services charges much more. Its tap fees are small ($500 water, $360 sewer), but it adds capacity charges of $1,375 (water) and $2,300 (sewer) per 350-gallon-per-day unit, for $4,535 at one unit and $8,210 at two (see our Nashville tap fee page). KUB’s $2,700 minimum is $1,835 lower than Nashville’s one-unit case, because KUB’s documents list tap fees with no capacity charge on top. KUB’s numbers are minimums, though, and Metro’s are fixed, so a difficult Knoxville lot can narrow the gap. Down the interstate, Murfreesboro’s standard stub lot pays $4,640 (Murfreesboro tap fees).

Costs outside the Knoxville fee schedule

KUB’s rules put much of the physical work on the owner. The owner installs and owns the water service line on the house side of the meter (Water Service Procedures 1.1.8). The owner also pays to install, connect and inspect the private sewer lateral, which by KUB’s definition runs all the way from the main, including the part in the street right-of-way (Wastewater Rules and Regulations, Sec. V). For underground electric service, the owner does the trenching and furnishes the conduit and service conductors (Electric Service Procedures Sec. 12). Typical costs:

• Water service line from the meter to the house: $30 to $150 per foot, about $50 typical, installed including the trench (national estimate).
• Sewer lateral: $50 to $250 per foot, about $100 typical, installed including the trench (national estimate).
• Street cut or bore if a line must cross the road: $1,000 to $10,000 per crossing, about $4,000 typical (national estimate).
• Underground electric service lateral: $6 to $30 per foot, about $15 typical (national estimate), plus a 200-amp panel and meter base at about $3,000 typical (national estimate).
• Plumbing permit: about $300 typical (national estimate). KUB’s electric appendix lists electrical permits at $5 plus the cost of the permit.

A 60-foot water line at $50 a foot ($3,000) and a 60-foot lateral at $100 a foot ($6,000) add about $9,000, more than three times KUB’s water and sewer tap fees. These figures come from our national benchmark set. See water service line cost, sewer lateral cost, gas line connection cost and cost to run power to property, or model your own lot here: For a broader view, see our guide to water and sewer hookup costs for a new home.

How and when Knoxville fees are paid

• Apply first. KUB requires a formal application (contract, online or by phone) before it issues connection or meter orders, well ahead of the date you need service.
• Extensions are paid up front. If your lot needs a water, gas or electric extension, KUB decides how much it will invest from the project’s cost, expected revenue and system capacity. You pay the rest as a Contribution in Aid of Construction (CIAC) before construction, unless KUB agrees otherwise in writing. For electric extensions KUB may sign a contingent refund agreement that credits back part of the advance as new customers connect directly to the extension.
• Who builds what. KUB owns and maintains the water main, the service main to the meter, the meter and meter box. KUB installs the gas service line from the main to the shut-off cock and charges the service line fee. You clear trees and vegetation in the way before KUB installs water or gas service.
• Sewer must be “available.” KUB treats sewer as unavailable if its system is more than 50 feet from your property line, if reaching it needs an easement on a separate parcel or a railroad crossing permit, or if water or a wetland lies between the house and the sewer.
• Starting service. The residential connection fee is $35 during business hours and $60 for after-hours or same-day requests. The residential deposit is $300 per premise for any combination of KUB services, refundable under KUB’s deposit rules.

Knoxville fee changes to watch

Under KUB’s rules, its President and CEO sets these charges, and changes take effect on adoption. Our documents date from May 2025 (water, gas, electric) and July 2025 (wastewater). KUB’s rules page now links newer Electric Service Procedures (February 2026) that we could not open, so the $100 electric minimum may be out of date.

Knoxville connection fee questions

More on Knoxville and nearby cities

Down the valley, Chattanooga’s water and sewer tap fees are split between Tennessee American Water and the city, and Huntsville Utilities tap and sewer access fees also list gas and electric charges.

Compare Knoxville with Nashville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Charlotte and Raleigh, or see the full tap fees by city table. Related guides: tap fee vs. impact fee, water tap fee, sewer tap fee, utility extension cost and the utility connection cost calculator.

Knoxville fee sources

• Water Division Service Procedures (May 2025), Appendix A – Water Deposits, Charges and Fees, Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Wastewater Charges and Fees (effective July 2025), Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Wastewater Division Rules and Regulations (Resolution 1347), Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Gas Division Service Procedures (May 2025), Appendix A, Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Electric Division Service Procedures (May 2025), Appendix A, Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• KUB Rules and Regulations index, Knoxville Utilities Board. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.