West Virginia's energy consumption
West Virginia's energy consumption is heavily influenced by its rich natural resources, particularly coal and natural gas. The state is a leading coal producer, contributing about 14 percent of the total U.S. coal supply in 2022, with significant exports to other states and countries. Approximately 95 percent of West Virginia's electricity is generated from coal-fired power plants, although the state also harnesses hydropower and wind energy, which together account for a small fraction of its energy portfolio. Notably, West Virginia ranks fourth in the nation for natural gas production, primarily extracted from the Marcellus Shale formation.
The state's energy consumption patterns reveal that the industrial sector is the largest consumer, followed by transportation. Despite having the potential for increased renewable energy development, West Virginia has shown resistance to moving away from coal, demonstrated by the repeal of a renewable energy portfolio standard in 2015. The energy infrastructure includes extensive networks of pipelines for natural gas and a mix of electrical transmission systems, ensuring energy distribution across the state. Overall, West Virginia's energy landscape is marked by a strong reliance on fossil fuels, with ongoing discussions about the future of energy resources in the context of sustainability and economic growth.
Subject Terms
West Virginia's energy consumption
Summary: West Virginia is a small state—41st in land area—but is a relative giant in its energy export profile. Coal is the dominant factor behind this stature.
Among the leading coal producers in the United States (about 14 percent of the national total production in 2022), West Virginia also ranked in the top five states in natural gas production.
Coal and Electricity
West Virginia is the second-largest producer of coal energy and among the largest exporters of coal-fired electricity to other states. The state's production, as surveyed by the US Department of Energy, amounted to 83.43 million short tons in 2022 equivalent to about 14 percent of the total US supply. Half was exported to other states, and an additional quarter went to foreign countries.
West Virginia’s coal was first discovered in 1742 in present-day Boone County. The coal mining industry began to grow with the development of railroads in the coalfields. A milestone year in coal mining industry in West Virginia was 1883, when major rail lines were completed and production of coal totaled nearly 3 million tons. Coal mining and exploration have continued since, and it has been found that coal occurs in 53 of 55 counties of West Virginia, distributed in over 117 coal seams. There are well over one hundred coal-mining service companies operating in the state.
Coal is produced from both underground and surface mines. Major underground mines in West Virginia have included: McElroy; Robinson Run; Blacksville No. 2; Loveridge (all run by CONSOL Energy); and Mountaineer II at Mountain Laurel (run by Arch Coal). Major surface coal mines in West Virginia have included Twilight MTR (Progress Coal/Massey); Coal-Mac (Arch Coal); Birch River (ICG Eastern); and Black Castle (Black Castle Mining/Massey).
West Virginia has many coal-fired electricity-generating units at about twenty different locations, with over 15,000 megawatts of capacity, representing about 95 percent of the state’s total electricity-generating capacity.
Although coal remained the principal energy resource for making electricity in West Virginia, another 7 percent was generated by conventional hydropower facilities and environmentally friendly wind energy. The state has areas with good wind energy resources; it ranked twenty-second in wind energy potential in 2023. There were a few sizable wind farms: the 66-megawatt capacity wind energy center in Tucker County, the 264-megawatt NedPower project in Grant County, and the 100-megawatt Beech Ridge project in Greenbrier County. Total wind electrical generation capacity in West Virginia approached 700 megawatts by 2017. West Virginia’s streams have been used for energy since the early days of settlement. By 1900, water power was being used for production of electricity in West Virginia, and the capacity of hydropower has slowly increased. Hydroelectric plants in West Virginia are smaller and usually situated on existing dams. The Ohio, Cheat, Kanawha, Gauley, Potomac, Shenandoah, and New Rivers are used in the production of electricity; together they supply about just under 2 percent of the total electricity in the state.
Despite the potential for renewable energy development in West Virginia, the state has shown reluctance to move away from coal. A renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) was adopted by the state government in 2009, mandating that large electrical utilities get 25 percent of retail sales from renewable or alternative sources by 2025. However, unlike other state RPSs, it allowed advanced coal operations, natural gas, and other fossil fuels to meet these requirements. Then, in 2015, West Virginia repealed its RPS altogether, becoming the first state to do so.
Natural Gas
Organically rich Devonian shales are located throughout the western part of the state. These beds are rich in natural gas; the most common reservoirs are located in the thin sandstones of the Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian geologic periods. Other reservoirs include the Lower Devonian Oriskany Sandstone and the Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone. Oil is restricted to reservoirs located primarily in northern and central West Virginia. It is believed that natural gas vents in the area were utilized historically by American Indians. Both oil and natural gas have been produced in West Virginia since as early as 1800. West Virginia led the nation in natural gas production during 1906–17; from 1917 to 1934 production declined; then it increased again until about 1970. The Marcellus Shale underlies part of the state; drilling activity to recover gas from this formation increased in the 2000s and 2010s. As a result, West Virginia state produced 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2022, fourth-most among all US states.
West Virginia is part of one of the nation’s largest interstate natural gas pipeline systems, the Columbia Gas Transmission Company, which has an extensive network that provides service to the states of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The pipelines extend into Ohio in the Midwest and Kentucky and North Carolina to the southeast. In addition, smaller interstate natural gas pipeline companies operate within the state. For example, Dominion and Equitrans serve West Virginia and neighboring states, transporting local production to regional markets. At least 30 underground storage facilities for natural gas operate in West Virginia, an especially vital adjunct to the pipeline networks, especially during winter months. These facilities are sited inside depleted oil and gas fields.
Oil and Wood
The state produces a small amount of crude oil; output fell between 1980 and 2022, when West Virginia produced about 42,000 barrels of crude oil. The state is heavily forested, and there is potential for supplying more than 3 percent of electricity from woody biomass, which includes logging residues, agricultural residues, and waste wood products. The state has been researching biomass-based ethanol production, although processing technologies have been found to be cost-prohibitive for commercial production.
Transportation accounted for about 23 percent of all energy consumption in West Virginia, which makes it the second-largest energy-consuming sector of the state economy, after industry (44 percent)—but almost none of that energy is in the form of electricity. According to the US Department of Energy, West Virginia electricity consumption was about 540,028 megawatt-hours annually in 2022. The main electrical transmission network is owned and operated by Allegheny Power, serving the northern and eastern parts of the state, and American Electric Power in the western and southern areas.
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