Last Updated: September 18, 2025

Overview

Kansas stretches more than 400 miles from east to west and the state has considerable crude oil, natural gas, and renewable energy resources. The state's broad plains rise gradually from about 700 feet above sea level at the Missouri River in the east to more than 4,000 feet on the state's border with Colorado on the state's western High Plains.¹ Crude oil and natural gas fields are found throughout most of the state.^2,3 Strong winds blow across the open prairie, creating significant wind energy resources in the state.⁴ Major river systems, including the Arkansas, Kansas, Republican, and Smoky Hill Rivers, flow from the High Plains eastward across Kansas, offering hydropower potential.⁵

With its Mid-Continent location far from the moderating effects of large bodies of water, Kansas has hot summers, frigid winters, and occasional severe weather, including tornadoes.⁶ Kansas averages more than 200 days of full or partial sunshine each year, and the western half of the state has significant solar energy resources that, along with fertile prairie soils, help make it a major agricultural state.^7,8,9,10 Kansas ranks first in the nation in total amount of cropland and is the number one producer of wheat and sorghum. The state also ranks third in its number of cattle and in red meat production.^11,12 The state's grain sorghum and corn crops are major feedstocks for ethanol production, and agricultural waste and animal manure provide substantial biomass resources.^13,14

Kansas's industrial sector consumes the most energy in the state, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the state's total energy use. The sector includes manufacturing—particularly aviation and aerospace manufacturing—as well as agriculture and livestock processing, and the energy-intensive petroleum and natural gas industries.^15,16 Transportation—the second-largest energy-consuming sector—uses about three-tenths. The residential and commercial sectors each account for almost one-fifth of state energy consumption.¹⁷

Petroleum

Kansas holds almost 1% of U.S. proved crude oil reserves and accounts for almost 1% of the nation's oil production.^18,19 The 1892 discovery of crude oil near Neodesha, Kansas, is considered the first significant oil find west of the Mississippi River and was the first to indicate the vast oil potential of the Mid-Continent region.²⁰ Today, oil fields are found throughout Kansas and are in all but a few counties in the north-central portion of the state.²¹ Since 2015, the state's crude oil production has steadily declined, except during 2022 when Kansas's annual oil production increased for the first time in eight years as the U.S. economy grew and petroleum demand increased following the COVID-19 national emergency. However, the state's oil output fell in 2024 to the lowest level in more than six decades.^22,23,24

Kansas is also a crude oil-refining state. A network of pipelines delivers crude oil to the state's three refineries, which combined can process about 408,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day. The state's refineries account for about 2% of the nation's refining capacity. The refineries produce a variety of petroleum products, including diesel fuel, motor gasoline, and jet fuel.^25,26 The transportation sector is the largest consumer of petroleum in Kansas, accounting for about 7 out of 10 barrels used in the state. The industrial sector accounts for 22% of the state's petroleum consumption, while the residential and commercial sectors combined account for about 5%. The electric power sector uses a small amount of petroleum.²⁷

Conway, Kansas, is a major hydrocarbon gas liquid products storage and pricing hub for propane and ethane.^28,29 Kansas is among the 10 largest corn-producing states, and state consumption of propane rises in the autumn when farmers use it to dry the harvested crop.^30,31 About 8 out of 100 Kansas household use petroleum, mainly propane, for home heating.³²

Kansas is the 10th-largest ethanol-producing state.³³ The state uses part of its corn crop as the feedstock to make fuel ethanol at 11 production plants, which have a combined capacity of 561 million gallons a year.³⁴ Kansas produces more than four times more ethanol than the nearly 126 million gallons of ethanol it consumes annually, and the surplus ethanol is sent to blenders at fuel terminals in other states or exported to other countries.^35,36 Conventional motor gasoline without ethanol can be sold statewide, except in the Kansas City metropolitan area, where gasoline must be blended with ethanol to reduce emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone. Almost all motor gasoline sold in the United States contains at least 10% ethanol.^37,38 Kansas also has 63 public fueling stations that sell E-85 ethanol, which is a motor fuel blend that is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.³⁹ Kansas is the seventh-largest biodiesel-producing state. The state's one biodiesel plant can produce 95 million gallons per year, nearly four times more than the state's annual biodiesel consumption of about 25 million gallons.^40,41,42

Natural gas

In 2024, Kansas's marketed natural gas production was the lowest on record and made up around 0.3% of U.S. total output. The state's economically recoverable natural gas reserves account for about 0.5% of the U.S. total.^43,44 The 12,000-square-mile Hugoton Gas Area, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States, covers much of southwestern Kansas and parts of Oklahoma and Texas.^45,46 Since 2009, Kansas's marketed natural gas production has declined every year, and its share of the U.S. total also decreased as natural gas production from shale resources grew in other states.^47,48

Kansas typically consumes about twice as much natural gas as it produces.⁴⁹ Natural gas enters the state via pipelines primarily from Oklahoma, and natural gas is shipped out of the state, mainly to Nebraska and Missouri.⁵⁰ The Mid Continent Market Center pipeline system in south-central Kansas is a key natural gas interconnection, merging production from several states in the region and piping it east toward major natural gas-consuming markets.⁵¹ Some of the natural gas brought into Kansas is stored underground for later use. The state has 16 natural gas storage fields that together can hold up to 283 billion cubic feet of gas, which accounts for 3% of U.S. underground storage capacity.^52,53

Kansas's industrial sector, which includes agriculture, manufacturing, and crude oil and natural gas production, accounted for nearly half of the state's natural gas deliveries in 2024. The residential sector accounted for 19% of the state's natural gas use, with about 6 out of 10 Kansas households relying on natural gas as their primary energy source for home heating.^54,55 The electric power sector accounted for 18% of the state's natural gas deliveries in 2024. The commercial sector, which includes government buildings, businesses, hospitals, and schools, made up 14% of the state's gas deliveries. A small amount of natural gas was used by the transportation sector as vehicle fuel.^56,57

Electricity

Wind has been the largest source of electricity generation in Kansas since 2019, when it surpassed coal's contribution. That trend continued in 2024, when wind accounted for 52% of the state's total net generation. Although wind power provided more than half of in-state generation, only 2 wind farms are in the top 10 generating facilities by capacity in Kansas, and 3 wind farms are among the largest 10 by annual generation.^58,59

Coal supplied 22% of Kansas's generation in 2024, with the share of coal-fired electricity generation down by more than half from 58% a decade earlier. Coal fueled 5 of the state's 10 largest power plants by capacity and 4 of the 10 largest by total yearly generation.^60,61 The state's one nuclear power plant, Wolf Creek Generating Station, is the largest electricity producer and accounted for 16% of electricity net generation in 2024. Natural gas-fired power plants contributed about 10% to the state's generation. The rest of Kansas's electricity generation came from solar energy, petroleum, biomass, and hydroelectric power.^62,63

Kansas generates more electricity than it consumes. The surplus power is sent to other states over the high-voltage transmission lines of the regional grid.⁶⁴ About one in four state households rely on electricity as their primary energy source for heating.⁶⁵ Kansas's per capita electricity demand in its residential sector is near the midpoint of the states and the sector's average electricity price is among the lowest two-fifths of the states.^66,67

Renewable energy

In 2024, renewable resources provided more than half of Kansas's total state electricity net generation, and almost all of it was wind power.⁶⁸ Kansas, with its wide plains, is among the states with the best wind power potential.⁶⁹ The state ranked fourth in total wind-powered generation, behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma, and had the third-largest share of electricity generated from wind, behind Iowa and South Dakota.⁷⁰ At the end of 2024, the state had about 9,000 megawatts of installed wind generating capacity, the fourth-highest amount among the states.⁷¹ The state's largest wind facility, the 604-megawatt High Banks wind farm, came online in December 2023.⁷²

Kansas also generates small amounts of renewable electricity from solar, biomass, and hydropower sources.⁷³ Kansas is among the sunniest states in the country.⁷⁴ The state has a small but growing amount of utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger capacity) solar generation, which was 10 times larger in 2024 than in 2018. However, the amount of small-scale, customer-sited (less than 1 megawatt capacity) solar generation, mostly from rooftop solar panels, was twice the amount of solar power from the state's 33 utility-scale solar farms in 2024.^75,76 Kansas's renewable generation from biomass comes from two facilities that use landfill gas and have a total generation capacity of 9 megawatts.⁷⁷ Kansas is crossed by several major rivers that give it substantial hydropower resources, but most of the state's dams were built for flood control or to supply drinking water.^78,79 The state has one utility-scale hydroelectric generating facility, located on the Kansas River with 11 turbines that together have 7 megawatts of generating capacity.^80,81

In 2015, the Kansas legislature converted the state's mandatory renewable portfolio standard into a voluntary renewable energy goal for the state's investor-owned and cooperative electric utilities. Under the goal, which has been met, electricity providers were to obtain 20% of their annual peak power demand from generating capacity fueled by eligible renewable resources by 2020 and for every year after that. Renewables that meet the goal include wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower.⁸² Customer-sited, small-scale generating facilities connected to the grid may be counted by utilities to meet the goal. In 2009, separate legislation established net metering for customers of investor-owned utilities to be credited for their surplus electricity put on the grid.^83,84

Coal

Kansas has about 0.3% of U.S. estimated recoverable coal reserves, but the state no longer produces coal. Its last coal mine ceased operations in 2016.^85,86,87 Coal had been mined in Kansas since the 1850s from mines in the eastern part of the state. Significant amounts of coal were produced from both surface and underground mines in Kansas in the late 19th century and were used primarily to fuel railroad locomotives.⁸⁸ To meet current coal demand, Kansas receives coal from other states and most of it is used in the electric power sector. Nearly all the coal used in the state's coal-fired power plants is shipped by rail from Wyoming. The coal-fired Jeffrey Energy Center generating station is the state's largest power plant by capacity (about 2,000 megawatts) and third-largest in annual generation (nearly 5.9 million megawatthours). Small amounts of coal are also transported by truck from Missouri and by rail from Colorado for use at Kansas industrial plants.^89,90

Endnotes

¹ NETSTATE, Kansas, The Geography of Kansas, updated February 25, 2016.
² Kansas Geological Survey, KGS Special Map 6, Oil and Gas Fields of Kansas (2019).
³ U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), State Profile and Energy Estimates, Kansas Profile Overview, accessed August 4, 2025.
⁴ U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Kansas, Maps & Data, accessed August 4, 2025.
⁵ Maps of the World, Kansas Rivers Map, accessed August 4, 2025.
⁶ Knapp, Mary, The Climate of Kansas, The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, State Climate Series, accessed August 4, 2025.
⁷ Current Results, Days of Sunshine Per Year in Kansas, accessed August 4, 2025.
⁸ U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Maps, Global Horizontal Solar Irradiance Map, February 22, 2018.
⁹ National Park Service, Tallgrass Prairie, A Complex Prairie Ecosystem, accessed August 4, 2025.
¹⁰ Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Agriculture, accessed August 4, 2025.
¹¹ Kansas Department of Commerce, Agriculture, accessed August 4, 2025.
¹² U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas Rank in U.S. Agriculture, updated May 1, 2025.
¹³ U.S. EIA, U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity (August 15, 2024), Detailed annual production capacity by plant is available in XLSX.
¹⁴ U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Biomass Resource Data, Tools, and Maps, U.S. Biomass Resource Maps, Kansas, accessed August 4, 2025.
¹⁵ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2023.
¹⁶ Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Industry, accessed August 4, 2025.
¹⁷ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2023.
¹⁸ U.S. EIA, U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Reserves, Year-end 2023 (June 25, 2025), Table 6, Crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves, reserves changes, by states and areas, 2023.
¹⁹ U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels, 2019-24.
²⁰ American Oil & Gas Historical Society, First Kansas Oil Well, accessed August 5, 2025.
²¹ Kansas Geological Survey, KGS Special Map 6, Oil and Gas Fields of Kansas (2019).
²² U.S. EIA, Kansas Field Production of Crude Oil, Thousands barrels, Annual, 1981-2024.
²³ U.S. EIA, "COVID-19 mitigation efforts result in the lowest U.S. petroleum consumption in decades," Today in Energy (December 20, 2020).
²⁴ U.S. EIA, State Energy Production Estimates 1960 Through 2023, Table PT1, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Physical Units, Kansas, 1960-2023, p. 49.
²⁵ U.S. EIA, Kansas Profile Overview, Interactive Map, Kansas, Layer List: Crude Oil Pipelines, Petroleum Refineries, accessed August 5, 2025.
²⁶ U.S. EIA, Refinery Capacity Report (June 20, 2025), Table 3, Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by State as of January 1, 2025.
²⁷ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2023.
²⁸ The Williams Companies, Inc., Salt of the earth: NGL storage in Conway supports natural gas reliability, accessed August 5, 2025.
²⁹ U.S. Department of Energy, Ethane Storage and Distribution Hub in the United States (November 2018), p. 5, 42-43.
³⁰ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas Rank in U.S. Agriculture, updated May 1, 2025.
³¹ U.S. EIA, "Propane Use for Crop Drying Depends on Weather and Corn Markets as well as Crop Size," Today in Energy (October 2, 2014).
³² U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Kansas, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
³³ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P4B, Primary Energy Production Estimates, Biofuels, in Thousand Barrels, Ranked by State, 2023.
³⁴ U.S. EIA, U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity (August 15, 2024), Detailed nameplate capacity of fuel ethanol plants by Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PAD District) are available in XLSX.
³⁵ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P4B, Primary Energy Production Estimates, Biofuels, in Thousand Barrels, Ranked by State, 2023.
³⁶ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Selected Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2023.
³⁷ Southern States Energy Board, U.S. Gasoline Requirements, (January 2018).
³⁸ U.S. EIA, Biofuels explained, Ethanol, Ethanol is blended with gasoline, updated February 23, 2024.
³⁹ U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Kansas, accessed August 5, 2025.
⁴⁰ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P4B, Primary Energy Production Estimates, Biofuels, in Thousand Barrels, Ranked by State, 2023.
⁴¹ U.S. EIA, U.S. Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity (August 15, 2024), Detailed annual production capacity by plant is available in XLSX format.
⁴² U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Selected Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2023.
⁴³ U.S. EIA, U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Reserves, Year-end 2023 (June 25, 2025), Table 8, Natural gas, wet after lease separation, proved reserves, reserves changes, by state and areas, 2023.
⁴⁴ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Marketed Production, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2019-24.
⁴⁵ Kansas Geological Survey, The Hugoton Project, accessed August 5, 2025.
⁴⁶ U.S. EIA, Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields (March 2015), Table 2, p. 8-10.
⁴⁷ U.S. EIA, Kansas Natural Gas Marketed Production (Million Cubic Feet), 1967-2024.
⁴⁸ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals from Shale Gas Wells, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2018-23.
⁴⁹ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Annual Supply and Disposition by State (Million Cubic Feet), Kansas, Annual, 2019-24.
⁵⁰ U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State (Million Cubic Feet), Kansas, Annual, 2018-23.
⁵¹ ONEOK, Inc., Mid Continent Market Center, L.L.C., accessed August 6, 2025.
⁵² U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity (Count), Total Number of Existing Fields, Annual, 2018-23.
⁵³ U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity (Million Cubic Feet), Total Storage Capacity, Annual, 2018-23.
⁵⁴ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use (Million Cubic Feet), Kansas, Annual, 2019-24.
⁵⁵ U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Kansas, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
⁵⁶ U.S. EIA, Energy Explained, How the United States uses energy, updated July 15, 2024.
⁵⁷ U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use (Million Cubic Feet), Kansas, Annual, 2019-24.
⁵⁸ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-24.
⁵⁹ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2023 (October 23, 2024), Table 2A, Table 2B.
⁶⁰ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-24.
⁶¹ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2023 (October 23, 2024), Table 2A, Table 2B.
⁶² U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-24.
⁶³ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2023 (October 23, 2024), Table 2B.
⁶⁴ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2023 (October 23, 2024), Table 10.
⁶⁵ U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Kansas, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
⁶⁶ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C17, Electricity Sales to Ultimate Customers, Total and Residential, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2023.
⁶⁷ U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2025), Table 5.6.B.
⁶⁸ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual, 2001-24.
⁶⁹ U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Kansas, Maps & Data, accessed August 7, 2025.
⁷⁰ U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2025), Tables 1.3.B, 1.14.B., 1.17.B.
⁷¹ U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2025), Table 6.2.B.
⁷² U.S. EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of July 2025, Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Onshore Wind Turbine.
⁷³ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-24.
⁷⁴ U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Maps, Global Horizontal Solar Irradiance Map, (February 22, 2018).
⁷⁵ U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual, 2001-24.
⁷⁶ U.S. EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of July 2025, Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Solar Photovoltaic.
⁷⁷ U.S. EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of July 2025, Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Landfill Gas.
⁷⁸ University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas Lakes and Rivers, accessed August 7, 2025.
⁷⁹ American Rivers, Kansas River, accessed August 7, 2025.
⁸⁰ U.S. EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operating Generators as of July 2025, Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric.
⁸¹ Bowersock Mills & Power Co., Bowersock Hydropower, About Bowersock, accessed August 7, 2025.
⁸² NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Renewable Energy Goal, Kansas, Overview, updated November 18, 2024.
⁸³ NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Net Metering, Kansas, Program Overview, updated February 28, 2025.
⁸⁴ Kansas Corporation Commission, Net Metering in Kansas, accessed August 7, 2025.
⁸⁵ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report (October 30, 2024), Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, 2023.
⁸⁶ University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Coal mining, accessed August 8, 2025.
⁸⁷ U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report (October 30, 2024), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by States and Coal Rank, 2023.
⁸⁸ University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Coal mining, accessed August 8, 2025.
⁸⁹ 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, Kansas, Table DS-14, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Destination State, 2023.
⁹⁰ U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2023, Table 2A, Table 2B.