U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Office

Fact #753: November 12, 2012
Sources of Electricity by State

Electric vehicles do not create emissions from a tailpipe like conventional vehicles do. The electricity used to fuel electric vehicles is generated at power plants all across the nation. Because each plant that generates electricity can use a different mix of energy sources, the emissions associated with electric vehicle charging can vary significantly depending on where the vehicle's electricity is generated. For more specifics on electric vehicle upstream emissions, see Fact of the Week #737, July 23, 2012.

Electricity is generated from many different sources, with the most prevalent being coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric. The size of the pie charts on the map below indicates how much electricity is generated within that State and the pie slices show the sources used to generate that electricity. More than half of the electricity is generated by natural gas in seven States – Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada and Rhode Island. In Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington State, more than half of the electricity is generated by hydroelectric means. Though coal-producing States, such as West Virginia, Kentucky, and Wyoming use mainly coal to produce electricity, more than half of the States (29 States and the District of Columbia) produce less than half of their electricity from coal.

Electricity Generation by Source and State, 2010Graphic of U.S. map showing pie chart for each state with the sources for electricity generation. For more detailed information, see supporting information below.

Supporting Information

Electricity Generation Sources by State, 2010
State Source Total Total Generation
(Thousand
Megawatt-hours)
Coal Petroleum Natural
Gas		 Nuclear Hydro-
electric		 Solar/Wind/
Geothermal		 Biomass Other
AK 9.2% 13.9% 55.5% 0.0% 21.2% 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% 100.0% 6,759,575
AL 41.4% 0.1% 26.0% 24.9% 5.7% 0.0% 1.6% 0.2% 100.0% 152,150,512
AR 46.2% 0.1% 20.4% 0.0% 24.6% 6.0% 2.7% 0.0% 100.0% 61,000,184
AZ 39.1% 0.1% 26.6% 27.9% 5.9% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 100.0% 111,750,957
CA 1.0% 0.5% 53.5% 15.8% 16.4% 9.5% 2.9% 0.3% 100.0% 204,125,595
CO 68.1% 0.0% 21.8% 0.0% 3.1% 6.9% 0.1% -0.1% 100.0% 50,720,793
CT 7.8% 1.2% 50.2% 1.2% 35.2% 0.0% 2.2% 2.2% 100.0% 33,349,623
DC 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 199,858
DE 45.6% 1.0% 50.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.4% 0.0% 100.0% 5,627,645
FL 26.1% 4.0% 56.2% 10.4% 0.1% 0.0% 1.9% 1.2% 100.0% 229,095,935
GA 53.3% 0.5% 17.4% 24.4% 2.4% 0.0% 2.3% -0.2% 100.0% 137,576,942
HI 14.3% 74.6% 0.2% 0.0% 0.6% 4.3% 2.6% 3.4% 100.0% 10,836,036
IA 71.8% 0.3% 2.3% 7.7% 1.6% 15.9% 0.3% 0.0% 100.0% 57,508,720
ID 0.7% 0.0% 14.0% 0.0% 76.1% 4.3% 4.2% 0.7% 100.0% 12,024,564
IL 46.5% 0.1% 2.9% 47.8% 0.1% 2.2% 0.3% 0.1% 100.0% 201,351,871
IN 89.7% 0.1% 6.9% 0.0% 0.4% 2.3% 0.2% 0.3% 100.0% 125,180,738
KS 67.8% 0.2% 4.8% 19.9% 0.0% 7.1% 0.1% 0.0% 100.0% 47,923,763
KY 92.7% 2.3% 1.9% 0.0% 2.6% 0.0% 0.4% 0.0% 100.0% 98,217,657
LA 23.3% 3.2% 51.4% 18.1% 1.1% 0.0% 2.4% 0.5% 100.0% 102,884,941
MA 19.4% 0.7% 59.8% 13.8% 2.3% 0.1% 2.9% 1.0% 100.0% 42,804,824
MD 54.3% 0.7% 7.1% 32.1% 3.8% 0.0% 1.3% 0.6% 100.0% 43,607,264
ME 0.5% 1.6% 49.2% 0.0% 22.4% 2.9% 21.5% 1.9% 100.0% 17,018,659
MI 58.8% 0.3% 11.2% 26.6% 1.1% 0.3% 2.2% -0.6% 100.0% 111,551,372
MN 52.3% 0.1% 8.1% 25.1% 1.6% 8.9% 3.4% 0.5% 100.0% 53,670,228
MO 81.3% 0.1% 5.1% 9.7% 1.7% 1.0% 0.1% 1.0% 100.0% 92,312,990
MS 25.0% 0.1% 54.4% 17.7% 0.0% 0.0% 2.8% 0.0% 100.0% 54,487,261
MT 62.4% 1.4% 0.2% 0.0% 31.6% 3.1% 0.3% 0.9% 100.0% 29,791,179
NC 55.9% 0.2% 6.6% 31.7% 3.7% 0.0% 1.6% 0.3% 100.0% 128,678,484
ND 81.9% 0.1% 0.1% 5.9% 0.0% 11.8% 0.0% 0.1% 100.0% 34,739,542
NE 63.8% 0.1% 1.0% 30.2% 3.6% 1.2% 0.2% 0.0% 100.0% 36,630,006
NH 13.9% 0.3% 24.2% 49.2% 6.7% 0.3% 5.2% 0.3% 100.0% 22,195,912
NJ 9.8% 0.4% 38.1% 49.9% 0.0% 0.1% 1.2% 0.6% 100.0% 65,682,494
NM 70.7% 0.1% 23.5% 0.0% 0.6% 5.1% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 36,251,543
NV 19.9% 0.0% 67.4% 0.0% 6.1% 0.0% 6.5% 0.0% 100.0% 35,146,247
NY 9.9% 1.5% 35.7% 30.6% 18.6% 1.9% 1.6% 0.2% 100.0% 136,961,653
OH 82.1% 1.0% 11.0% 0.3% 5.1% 0.0% 0.5% 0.0% 100.0% 143,598,337
OK 43.6% 0.0% 3.9% 0.0% 5.3% 47.0% 0.5% -0.2% 100.0% 72,250,733
OR 7.5% 0.0% 28.4% 0.0% 55.4% 7.1% 1.5% 0.1% 100.0% 55,126,999
PA 48.0% 0.2% 14.9% 33.9% 1.0% 0.8% 1.0% 0.1% 100.0% 229,752,307
RI 0.0% 0.2% 98.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.8% 0.0% 100.0% 7,738,719
SC 36.2% 0.2% 10.5% 49.9% 2.3% 0.0% 1.8% -0.8% 100.0% 104,153,132
SD 32.8% 0.1% 1.3% 0.0% 52.1% 13.6% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 10,049,637
TN 53.0% 0.3% 2.8% 33.7% 9.9% 0.0% 1.1% -0.9% 100.0% 82,348,624
TX 36.5% 0.2% 46.2% 10.0% 0.3% 6.4% 0.4% 0.1% 100.0% 411,695,046
UT 76.0% 0.1% 14.5% 0.0% 1.6% 7.4% 0.1% 0.4% 100.0% 44,837,624
VA 34.9% 1.8% 23.3% 36.4% 2.1% 0.0% 3.0% -1.5% 100.0% 72,966,456
VT 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 72.2% 20.3% 0.2% 7.1% 0.0% 100.0% 6,619,991
WA 8.2% 0.0% 10.3% 8.9% 66.0% 4.6% 1.8% 0.1% 100.0% 103,472,730
WI 62.5% 1.1% 8.5% 20.7% 3.3% 1.7% 2.2% 0.1% 100.0% 64,314,068
WV 96.7% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 1.7% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 80,788,947
WY 89.3% 0.1% 1.5% 0.0% 2.1% 6.7% 0.0% 0.1% 100.0% 48,119,254
Total 44.8% 0.9% 23.8% 18.5% 7.0% 3.5% 1.4% 0.2% 100.0% 4,127,648,171

Note: The Energy Information Administration collects information from all electric generating facilities in the U.S. with a capacity of 1 or more megawatts.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Electricity Detailed State Data.

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