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Delaware   Delaware Profile

State Profile and Energy Estimates

Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)

Last Updated: January 17, 2024

Overview

Delaware, the nation's second-smallest state, is only about 100 miles long and 30 miles wide. The state is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, which it shares with parts of Maryland and Virginia, and lies on the western shore of the river and bay that share its name. To its southeast are the state's popular Atlantic Ocean beaches. In addition to its boundaries with Maryland to the west and south, Delaware is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, and by New Jersey across the river to the north and east.1 The Fall Line, a narrow zone of rapids and waterfalls, separates a small area of rolling hills in northernmost Delaware from the flat coastal plain that covers most of the state.2 Swiftly moving rivers that flow down from the hills supported the state's early economic development, when a variety of mills were active in the Wilmington area in northern Delaware.3 While much of Delaware's population of about 1 million people still reside in the northern part of the state near its borders with densely populated New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, hydropower no longer drives the state's economy.4,5

Delaware consumes almost 80 times more energy than it produces.

Delaware's energy resources include solar, biomass, and wind energy. Although the state has no fossil fuel reserves, it does receive and refine crude oil.6,7 Delaware produces less total energy than any other state and uses less energy than all but three other states—Vermont, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. However, Delaware consumes much more energy than it produces. In 2021, the state consumed almost 80 times more than it produced.8,9 Delaware's per capita energy consumption is near the national average due in part to the balance between its ocean-moderated climate, its service-based economy, its small population, and its energy-intensive manufacturing industries.10,11,12

Delaware is home to chemical plants, food-processing companies, and petroleum refining, but financial services that include banking, insurance, real estate, and the corporate headquarters for more than one million businesses—including two-thirds of the nation's Fortune 500 corporations—contribute more to Delaware's gross domestic product (GDP) than any other business activities.13,14,15 In 2021, the industrial sector, including agriculture, was Delaware's largest energy consumer and accounted for 29% of the state's total energy consumption.16 Chemical manufacturing and petroleum refining are the largest contributors to the state's industrial GDP, and poultry farming, specifically broilers, accounts for the largest share of the state's farm income.17,18 The transportation sector used 27% of the state's energy, the residential sector consumed about 23%, and the commercial sector used 21%.19

Petroleum

Almost one in five Delaware households heat with fuel oil or propane.

Delaware has no crude oil reserves or production, but it does have one petroleum refinery.20,21 The Port of Wilmington, which is North America's largest port for handling bananas and the nation's leading entry point for fresh fruit and produce, also has a bulk petroleum terminal and a storage depot that handles heating oil, diesel fuel, and many other petroleum products.22 Crude oil from around the world arrives at the Port of Wilmington and at a smaller port at Delaware City, which is less than 10 nautical miles downriver from Wilmington. Delaware City is the site of the state's only crude oil refinery.23 The refinery relies on crude oil supplies delivered via ship and rail, and can process more than 170,000 barrels per calendar day into motor gasoline, home heating oil, and other petroleum products.24 The Delaware City refinery connects to a petroleum product distribution network that includes pipelines, barges, tankers, trucks, and railroads.25

Petroleum supplies the largest share of the energy used in Delaware, accounting for almost two-fifths of the state's total energy consumption.26 In 2021, Delaware used more petroleum per capita than about three-fifths of the states.27 The transportation sector was Delaware's largest petroleum consumer, accounting for 69% of the petroleum used in the state. About half of that was motor gasoline.28,29 Delaware requires the use of reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol throughout the state to limit the formation of smog and toxic pollutants.30 In 2021, the industrial sector accounted for about 23% of the petroleum consumed in the state, and the residential sector, where almost one in five households use either propane or fuel oil as their primary energy source for home heating, consumed about 5%. The commercial sector used most of the rest, and a very small amount of petroleum was used in the electric power sector to generate electricity.31,32

Natural gas

Delaware does not have any natural gas reserves or production.33,34 Oil and gas exploration wells were drilled in waters off Delaware's Atlantic Coast in the 1970s and 1980s, but only noncommercial quantities of natural gas were found.35 All of Delaware's natural gas supplies arrive by interstate pipeline from Pennsylvania, and about one-tenth of that natural gas is sent to Maryland's Eastern Shore on the western portion of the Delmarva Peninsula.36

Because of its small population, Delaware consumes less natural gas than all but a handful of states; however, its per capita natural gas consumption is greater than in half the states.37 The state's annual natural gas consumption declined from its 2016 peak of almost 109 billion cubic feet to about 86 billion in 2022, in large part because of a decline in the amount of natural gas used for power generation.38,39 Delaware's industrial sector has been the state's largest natural gas consumer since 2019, when it surpassed the amount used in the electric power sector. In 2022, the industrial sector accounted for 37% of the natural gas delivered to Delaware consumers. Electricity generation used almost as much natural gas as the industrial sector, accounting for 36% of the state's natural gas use in 2022, a decrease from half of state use in 2016. The residential sector, where more than two in five households rely on natural gas for space heating, accounted for 14% of Delaware's natural gas deliveries while the commercial sector accounted for 13%.40 The transportation sector did not use any appreciable natural gas as vehicle fuel in 2022, although there are three compressed natural gas fueling stations in the state—one public and two private.41,42

Electricity

In 2022, natural gas fueled 87% of Delaware’s in-state electricity generation.

Natural gas fuels most of Delaware's in-state power generation. The contribution of natural gas-fired power plants to Delaware's total electricity net generation rose from 51% in 2010 to 87% in 2022.43 Six of the 10 largest power plants in the state as measured by capacity, and 7 of the top 10 as measured by annual generation, are natural gas-fired.44 As natural gas-fired generation increased, coal's share of state generation decreased. Coal-fired power plants provided 46% of Delaware's net generation in 2010, but only 2% in 2022, all of it from the state's one remaining coal-fired power plant.45 That coal-fired plant, located in southern Delaware, is scheduled to close in late 2026.46 Manufactured gases, renewables, and petroleum liquids fueled the rest of the state's utility-scale electricity generation in 2022.47 Delaware does not have any nuclear power plants.48

Delaware's in-state electricity generation typically is much less than the state needs. In 2022, only 41% of the electricity used in the state was generated in Delaware. The rest came from out-of-state power suppliers via the regional electric grid.49 Delaware's electricity consumption is less than in all but five other states. However, Delaware consumes more electricity on a per capita basis than almost two-fifths of all the states. Residential sector per capita electricity consumption in Delaware is greater than in three-fifths of the states.50 In 2022, Delaware's residential sector, where about one in three households rely on electricity for home heating, accounted for 45% of the state's electricity sales.51 The commercial sector accounted for 37% and the industrial sector accounted for 18%.52 Drivers in Delaware also use electricity to charge their vehicles. The state offers rebates for the purchase or lease of new battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.53 There are almost 200 public-access electric vehicle charging stations in the state and more are planned.54,55

Renewable energy

Renewable resources contributed almost 6% of Delaware's total electricity net generation from utility-scale (1 megawatt and larger) and small-scale (less than 1 megawatt) generating facilities in 2022. Solar energy alone supplied the largest share at about 4% of the state's total net generation.56 Delaware has 13 utility-scale power plants that generate electricity using solar energy, the largest of which has a generating capacity of 50 megawatts.57 However, in 2022, Delaware generated more than twice as much electricity from small-scale, customer-sited solar PV installations, such as rooftop solar panels, than from utility-scale solar farms.58 In 2022, biomass, the second-largest source of renewable generation, supplied less than 2% of the state's total generation.59 There are three utility-scale biomass power plants in Delaware, all of which are fueled by landfill gas. Those plants have a combined net generating capacity of about 14 megawatts.60 A biomass processing plant that will use anaerobic digestion to generate renewable natural gas from chicken manure is in development at a site in the southern part of the state.61,62 A small number of Delaware households use renewable resources directly for home heating—almost 1% rely on wood for heat and about 0.2% use solar thermal energy for heating.63 Despite its early history of hydro-powered mills, Delaware has no utility-scale hydroelectric generation.64

Delaware’s RPS requires that 40% of electricity sales come from renewable sources by 2035.

Delaware has limited onshore wind energy resources, most of it along the state's coastline.65 The first and, so far, only onshore utility-scale wind facility operating in the state is a 2-megawatt wind turbine installed in 2010 at the University of Delaware campus in the town of Lewes on the Delaware Bay.66,67 The state has significant wind energy resources farther offshore, and one wind project, Skipjack, is in development in federal waters east of the Delmarva Peninsula, about 19 miles from the southern Delaware Atlantic coast. Although that wind farm will be located in the federal government's designated Delaware wind energy offshore lease area, the electricity generated there will be sent to customers in Maryland.68,69,70 In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Interior announced a proposed offshore wind lease sale in federal waters off the coast of Delaware.71

First adopted in 2005, Delaware's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) required that 10% of the electricity sold in the state be generated from renewables by 2020. In 2010, the RPS was expanded to 25% by 2025, with at least 3.5% of electricity sales generated from solar energy. In 2021, a further expansion increased the requirement to 40% of electricity sales from renewable sources by 2035, including a target of 10% from solar energy.72

Coal

Delaware does not have any coal reserves or production.73 In 2022, the small amount of coal consumed in the state arrived by rail from Pennsylvania and was delivered to the electric power sector.74 The state's one remaining coal-fired power plant, the 410-megawatt Indian River Generating Station, consumes all of the coal used for electricity generation in Delaware. The plant operates infrequently and is scheduled for retirement at the end of 2026.75

Endnotes

1 World Atlas, Delaware, accessed December 22, 2023.
2 NETSTATE, Delaware, The Geography of Delaware, updated February 25, 2016.
3 Pragoff, David, "Cooch-dayett Mills: Discovering Delaware History Through Partnerships," Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, accessed December 22, 2023.
4 U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Delaware, and New Castle County, Population, accessed December 22, 2023.
5 U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census: Delaware Profile, Population Density by Census Tract.
6 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Delaware, Net generation for all sectors, All fuels, All solar, Biomass, Wind, 2022.
7 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Delaware Profile Data, Environment and Reserves, accessed December 22, 2023.
8 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F35, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2021.
9 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P3, Energy Production and Consumption Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2021.
10 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C14, Total Energy Consumption Estimates per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2021.
11 Brinson, Kevin, "A First Look at the Climate of the First State," Delaware's Climate, The CoCoRaHS ‘State Climates' Series, accessed December 22, 2023.
12 NETSTATE, Delaware, Delaware Economy, Services, updated December 19, 2017.
13 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Data Tools, Interactive Data, Regional GDP & Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, SAGDP2 GDP in current dollars, Delaware, All statistics in table, 2022.
14 NETSTATE, Delaware, Delaware Economy, updated December 19, 2017.
15 Delaware Division of Corporations, About the Division of Corporations, accessed December 22, 2023.
16 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F35, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2021.
17 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, State Fact Sheets: Delaware, Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties, Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2022.
18 NETSTATE, Delaware, Delaware Economy, Agriculture, updated December 19, 2017.
19 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F35, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2021.
20 U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserves Changes, and Production, Estimated Production and Proved Reserves as of 12/31, 2016-21.
21 U.S. EIA, Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries, Delaware, Annual, 2023.
22 Port Wilmington, Cargo Portfolio, Fresh Fruit and Petroleum, accessed December 24, 2023.
23 U.S. EIA, Crude Imports, Imports of all grades to Delaware., 2009-22.
24 U.S. EIA, Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries, Delaware, Annual, 2023.
25 PBF Energy, Refineries, Delaware City, Delaware, accessed December 24, 2023.
26 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2021.
27 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C15, Petroleum Consumption Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2021.
28 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2021.
29 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C3, Primary Energy Consumption Estimates, 2021.
30 Larson, B. K., U.S. Gasoline Requirements, ExxonMobil (January 2018).
31 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2021.
32 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2022 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Delaware.
33 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas, Annual, 2016-21.
34 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2017-22.
35 The Delaware Geological Survey, A Summary of the Geologic History of Delaware, Atlantic Coastal Plain, accessed December 24, 2023.
36 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Delaware, 2017-22.
37 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C16, Natural Gas Consumption Estimates, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2021.
38 U.S. EIA, Delaware Natural Gas Total Consumption, Annual, 1997-2022.
39 U.S. EIA, Delaware Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Consumers, Annual, 1997-2022.
40 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2022 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Delaware.
41 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Delaware, 2017-22.
42 U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Alternative Fueling Station Locator, Advanced Filters, Delaware, Compressed Natural Gas, Access Public and Private, Available, accessed December 25, 2023.
43 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Natural gas, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2001-22.
44 U.S. EIA, Delaware Electricity Profile 2022, Tables 2A, 2B.
45 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Coal, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2001-22.
46 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of November 2023.
47 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, Fuel Type (Check all), Annual, 2001-22.
48 U.S. EIA, Nuclear and Uranium, Nuclear Reactor, State, and Net Capacity (September 2023).
49 U.S. EIA, Delaware Electricity Profile 2022, Table 10.
50 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C17, Electricity Sales to Ultimate Customers, Total and Residential, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2021.
51 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2022 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Delaware.
52 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity, Delaware, End-Use Sector (Check all), Annual, 2001-22.
53 U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Delaware Laws and Incentives, accessed December 26, 2023.
54 U.S. EIA, Monthly Energy Review (December 2023), Appendix F, Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure.
55 Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, "DNREC, DelDOT To Deploy New EV Charging Stations Along State's Major Travel Routes Via BIL Initiative Funding," Press Release (August 9, 2022).
56 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Conventional hydroelectric, Other renewables, Wind, All utility-scale solar, Biomass, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2022.
57 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of November 2023, Delaware.
58 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Delaware, All fuels, All utility-scale solar, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2022.
59 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Biomass, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2022.
60 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of August 2022, November 2023, Delaware.
61 BioenergyDevco, "Bioenergy Devco Announces Expansion of Bioenergy Innovation Center," Press Release (September 6, 2023).
62 Bioenergy Innovation Center, Expansion Project, accessed December 26, 2023.
63 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2022 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Delaware.
64 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Conventional hydroelectric, Annual, 2001-22.
65 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Delaware, Maps & Data, accessed December 26, 2023.
66 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of November 2023, Delaware.
67 University of Delaware, UD's Wind Turbine, accessed December 27, 2023.
68 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, U.S. Offshore 90-Meter Wind Resource Potential and Virginia-Maryland-New Jersey-Delaware Offshore Wind Speed at 100 Meters, accessed December 27, 2023.
69 Orsted, Skipjack Wind Farm, accessed December 27, 2023.
70 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Renewable Energy, Delaware Activities, accessed December 27, 2023.
71 Stayman, Zoe, "Offshore wind lease sale announced for Delaware, Maryland, Virginia," Coast TV (updated December 22, 2023).
72 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Delaware Renewables Portfolio Standard, updated November 8, 2023.
73 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2022 (October 2023), Tables 6 and 15.
74 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2022 (October 2023), Domestic distribution of U.S. coal by: Destination state, consumer, destination and method of transportation, Delaware, Table DS-7, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Destination State, 2022.
75 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of November 2023, Delaware.