Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: March 20, 2025
Overview
Delaware is the nation's first state and the second-smallest state, behind Rhode Island.1,2 The state is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes 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, such as Rehoboth Beach. 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. The Piedmont region, in the northernmost tip of the state, is a narrow zone that separates a small area of rolling hills from the flat coastal plain that covers most of Delaware.3,4 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.5 Most of Delaware's population of about 1 million people still reside in the northern part of the state near its borders with New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania.6,7
Delaware consumes almost 100 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.8,9 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 almost 100 times more energy than it produces.10 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 and its energy-intensive manufacturing industries.11,12,13
Delaware is home to chemical plants, food-processing companies, and a petroleum refinery, but financial services that include banking, insurance, and real estate contribute more to the state's GDP than any other business activities.14 The favorable tax climate has attracted almost two million companies to be incorporated in the state, including over two-thirds of the nation's Fortune 500 corporations.15 The industrial sector is Delaware's largest energy consumer and accounts for 29% of the state's total energy consumption.16 Chemical manufacturing and food and beverage product manufacturing are the largest contributors to the state's industrial GDP, and poultry farming, specifically broilers, account for the largest share of the state's farm income.17,18 The transportation sector uses 28% of the state's energy, the residential sector consumes about 24%, and the commercial sector uses 19%.19
Petroleum
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.23 Delaware City is the site of the state's only crude oil refinery. The refinery relies on crude oil supplies delivered via ship and rail and can process 180,000 barrels per calendar day. The Delaware City refinery connects to a petroleum product distribution network that includes pipelines, barges, tankers, trucks, and railroads.24,25,26
Almost one in five Delaware households heat with fuel oil or propane.
Petroleum supplies the largest share of the energy used in Delaware, accounting for two-fifths of the state's total energy consumption.27 Delaware uses more petroleum per capita than about three-fifths of the states.28 The transportation sector is Delaware's largest petroleum consumer, accounting for 68% of state petroleum use, about half of which is motor gasoline.29,30 Delaware requires the use of reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol throughout the state to limit the formation of smog and toxic pollutants.31 The industrial sector accounts for about 23% of the petroleum consumption 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, consumes 5%. The commercial sector uses most of the rest, and a very small amount of petroleum is used in the electric power sector to generate electricity.32,33
Natural gas
Delaware does not have any natural gas reserves or production.34,35 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.36 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.37
Because of its small population, Delaware consumes less natural gas than all but four states. However, its per capita natural gas consumption ranks among the middle of the states.38,39 The state's annual natural gas consumption declined from its 2016 peak of almost 109 billion cubic feet to about 82 billion cubic feet in 2023, in large part because of a decline in the amount of natural gas used for power generation.40,41 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 2023, the industrial sector accounted for 40% of the natural gas delivered to Delaware consumers. The electric power sector made up 34% of the state's natural gas use. The residential sector, where more than two in five households rely on natural gas for space heating, accounted for 13% of Delaware's natural gas deliveries and the commercial sector accounted for about 13%. The transportation sector used a minor amount of natural gas as vehicle fuel in 2023, and the state has three compressed natural gas fueling stations.42,43,44
Electricity
In 2024, natural gas fueled 83% of Delaware’s in-state electricity generation.
Natural gas fuels most of Delaware's in-state power generation. Natural gas-fired power plants accounted for 83% of Delaware's total electricity net generation in 2024, up from 51% in 2010.45 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.46 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 in 2024 the state's one remaining coal-fired power plant generated 3% of electricity on an intermittent basis.47 Manufactured gases, renewables, and petroleum liquids fueled the rest of the state's utility-scale electricity generation in 2023.48 Delaware does not have any nuclear power plants.49
Delaware does not generate enough electricity to meet consumer demand. In 2023, the state received about three-fifths of its needed electricity from out-of-state power suppliers via the regional electric grid.50 Delaware's is among the five states with the lowest total electricity consumption. However, Delaware consumes more electricity on a per capita basis than one-third of all the states. Delaware's residential sector per capita electricity consumption is greater than about half of the states.51 In 2024, Delaware's residential sector accounted for 46% of the state's electricity sales.52 Almost 4 in 10 households rely on electricity for home heating.53 The commercial sector accounted for 38% and the industrial sector make up 17%.54
In December 2024, Delaware had 232 public electric vehicle charging locations.55 Most charging locations are in Wilmington, with others located along the highways to popular beaches in the southeastern part of the state.56
Renewable energy
Renewable resources contributed 9% of Delaware's total electricity net generation from utility-scale (1 megawatt and larger) and small-scale (less than 1 megawatt) generating facilities in 2024. Solar energy alone accounted for 85% of the state's renewable electricity and about 8% of total net generation.57 Delaware has 15 utility-scale solar powered-facilities, the largest of which has a generating capacity of 50 megawatts.58 However, in 2024, Delaware generated 55% of its solar power from small-scale, customer-sited solar PV installations, such as rooftop solar panels.59 In 2024, biomass-fueled generating units accounted for 1% of the state's total generation.60 Delaware has three utility-scale biomass power plants, all of which are fueled by landfill gas. Those plants have a combined net generating capacity of about 14 megawatts.61 A biomass processing plant that will use anaerobic digestion to generate renewable natural gas from poultry waste is in development at a site in the southern part of the state.62 Despite its early history of hydro-powered mills, Delaware has no utility-scale hydroelectric generation.63,64
Delaware requires that 40% of the electricity sold in the state be generated 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.68 In January 2025, the federal government temporarily withdrew all federal offshore areas from leasing for wind energy development.69
First adopted in 2005, Delaware's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) initially required that 10% of the electricity sold in the state be generated from renewables by 2020. The RPS was expanded several times since then and now requires that 40% of electricity sales come from renewable sources by 2035, and includes a target of 10% from solar energy.70
Coal
Delaware does not have any coal reserves or production.71 In 2023, the small amount of coal consumed in the state arrived by rail from Pennsylvania and was delivered to the electric power sector.72 Delaware's one remaining coal-fired power plant, the 410-megawatt Indian River Generating Station, consumed all the coal used for electricity generation in the state. The plant was retired in February 2025.73,74
Endnotes
1 Delaware.gov, Facts & Symbols, Government, accessed February 3, 2025.
2 U.S. Census, Census Geographies, State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates, 2010.
3 World Atlas, Delaware, accessed February 3, 2025.
4 Dorset, Erin and Kenny Smith, "Piedmont vs. Coastal Plain Wetlands: A Tale of Two Regions," Delaware DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship (September 16, 2019).
5 Pragoff, David, "Cooch-dayett Mills: Discovering Delaware History Through Partnerships," Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, accessed December 22, 2023.
6 U.S. Census Bureau, Census Report, Delaware, accessed February 3, 2025.
7 U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Viewer, Delaware, accessed February 3, 2025.
8 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Electricity Data Browser, Delaware, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Annual, 2001-24.
9 U.S. EIA, Delaware Profile Data, Environment and Reserves, accessed February 3, 2025.
10 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P3, Total Primary Energy Production and Total Energy Consumption Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2022.
11 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C14, Total Energy Consumption Estimates per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2022.
12 North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State Climate Summaries 2022, Delaware.
13 Wilmington Delaware Office of Economic Development, Regional Profile, accessed February 25, 2025.
14 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data Tables, Regional Data, GDP and Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, SAGDP2 GDP in current dollars, Delaware, All statistics in table, 2023.
15 Simmerman, Amy and William B. Chandler III, "Delaware's Status as the Favored Corporate Home: Reflections and Considerations," Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (May 8, 2024).
16 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F35, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2022.
17 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data Tables, Regional Data, GDP and Personal Income, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, SAGDP2 GDP in current dollars, Delaware, All statistics in table, 2023.
18 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, State Fact Sheets - State Data, Delaware, Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties, Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2023.
19 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F35, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2022.
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, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries, Delaware, Annual, 2024.
22 Port Wilmington, Cargo Portfolio, Fresh Fruit and Petroleum, accessed February 4, 2025.
23 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Company Level Imports (January 31, 2025), available in XLSX.
24 U.S. EIA, Crude Imports, Imports of all grades to Delaware, 2009-23.
25 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries, Delaware, Annual, 2024.
26 PBF Energy, Refineries, Delaware City, DE, accessed February 4, 2025.
27 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2022.
28 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C15, Petroleum Consumption Estimates, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2022
29 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2022.
30 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C3, Primary Energy Consumption Estimates, 2021.
31 American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Gasoline Requirements, U.S Gasoline RVP Requirements for summer 2025 (May 1-Sep. 15 at terminal and June 1 to Sep. 15 at retail), accessed February 5, 2025.
32 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2022.
33 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Delaware, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
34 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas, Annual, 2016-21.
35 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2018-23.
36 The Delaware Geological Survey, A Summary of the Geologic History of Delaware, Atlantic Coastal Plain, accessed February 6, 2025.
37 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Delaware, 2018-23.
38 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Profile Data, Delaware, Energy Indicators, updated February 20, 2025.
39 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C16, Natural Gas Consumption Estimates, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2022.
40 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Delaware Natural Gas Total Consumption, Annual, 1997-2023.
41 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Delaware Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Consumers, Annual, 1997-2023.
42 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Delaware, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
43 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Delaware, 2018-23.
44 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 February 6, 2025.
45 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Natural gas, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2001-24.
46 U.S. EIA, Delaware Electricity Profile 2023, Table 2A, Table 2B.
47 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Coal, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Monthly, Jan 2001-Dec 2024.
48 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, Fuel Type (Check all), Annual, 2001-24.
49 U.S. EIA, Nuclear & Uranium, Nuclear Reactor, State, and Net Capacity (September 2023).
50 U.S. EIA, Delaware Electricity Profile 2023, Table 10.
51 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C17, Electricity Sales to Ultimate Customers, Total and Residential, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2022.
52 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity, Delaware, End-Use Sector (Check all), Annual, 2001-24.
53 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Delaware, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
54 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity, Delaware, End-Use Sector (Check all), Annual, 2001-24.
55 U.S. EIA, Monthly Energy Review (January 28, 2025), Appendix F monthly state file, XLS, Public Ports only and Public & Private Ports combined.
56 U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Electric Vehicle Charging Station Locations, accessed February 6, 2025.
57 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, 2021-24.
58 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, Technology: Solar Photovoltaic, as of January 2025, Delaware.
59 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Delaware, All fuels, All utility-scale solar, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2024.
60 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Wind, Biomass, All utility-scale solar, Small-scale solar photovoltaic, Annual, 2024.
61 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 January 2025, Delaware, Technology: Landfill Gas, Wood/Wood Waste Biomass.
62 Tabeling, Katie, "DNREC approves plan for Seaford biogas facility," Delaware Business Times (September 7, 2023).
63 "Delaware's Historic Mills - A time when mills powered Sussex's economy," Delaware Nature Society (July 1, 2022).
64 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Delaware, All fuels, Conventional hydroelectric, Annual, 2001-24.
65 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Delaware, Maps & Data, accessed February 4, 2025.
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 January 2025, Delaware.
67 University of Delaware, UD's Wind Turbine, accessed February 4, 2025.
68 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Virginia-Maryland-New Jersey-Delaware Offshore Wind Speed at 100 Meters, accessed February 4, 2025.
69 The White House, "Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf From Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government's Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects," Press Release (January 20, 2025).
70 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Delaware Renewables Portfolio Standard, updated January 6, 2025.
71 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report (October 30, 2024), Table 6, Table 15.
72 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report (October 30, 2024), 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, 2023.
73 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 January 2025, Delaware, Technology: Conventional Steam Coal.
74 Curtis, Sean, "Indian River Power Plant Closes After 68 Years of Operation," WBOC (February 24, 2025).