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Kansas   Kansas Profile

State Profile and Energy Estimates

Changes to the State Energy Data System (SEDS) Notice: In October 2023, we updated the way we calculate primary energy consumption of electricity generation from noncombustible renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal). Visit our Changes to 1960—2022 conversion factor for renewable energy page to learn more.

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

Last Updated: June 15, 2023

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 600 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.4 Major river systems, including the Arkansas, Kansas, Republican, and Smoky Hill Rivers, flow from the High Plains eastward across Kansas, offering hydropower potential.5,6

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 tornados.7 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.8,9,10,11 Kansas ranks third in the nation in the amount of farmland and is the number one producer of wheat and sorghum. It also ranks third in the number of cattle and in beef production.12,13,14 The state's grain sorghum and corn crops are major feedstocks for ethanol production, and agricultural waste and animal manure provide substantial biomass resources.15,16

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.17,18 Transportation—the second-largest energy-consuming sector—uses about one-fourth. The residential and commercial sectors each account for around one-fifth of state energy consumption.19

Petroleum

Kansas holds about 1% of U.S. proved crude oil reserves and accounts for almost 1% of the nation's oil production.20,21 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.22 Today, oil fields are found throughout Kansas and are in all but a few counties in the north-central portion of the state.23 Since 2015, the state's crude oil production has steadily declined and annual oil output in 2021 was at its lowest level in more than four decades, due in part to lower petroleum demand during the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, Kansas' annual oil production increased for the first time in eight years in 2022 as the U.S. economy grew, petroleum demand increased, and oil prices rose.24,25

Kansas accounts for about 2% of U.S. crude oil refining capacity.

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 404,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day. The state's refineries accounted for about 2% of the nation's refining capacity in 2022. The refineries produce a variety of petroleum products, including diesel fuel, motor gasoline, and jet fuel.26 The transportation sector is the largest consumer of petroleum in Kansas, using 7 out of 10 barrels. The industrial sector accounts for about 23% the state's petroleum consumption, while the residential and commercial sectors combined account for 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.28,29,30 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.31,32 About 8 out of 100 Kansas household use petroleum, mainly propane, for home heating.33

Kansas is one of the top 10 ethanol-producing states.

Kansas is the 8th-largest ethanol-producing state. The state uses part of its corn crop as the feedstock to make fuel ethanol at 12 production plants, which have a combined capacity of 601 million gallons a year.34,35,36,37 Kansas produces about five times more ethanol than the 118 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.38 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.39,40 Kansas also has about 70 public fueling stations that sell E-85 ethanol, which is a motor fuel blend that is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.41 Kansas ranks among the top 10 states with the largest biodiesel-producing capacity.42 The state's one biodiesel plant can produce 90 million gallons per year, nearly four times more than the state's annual biodiesel consumption of about 25 million gallons.43,44

Natural gas

Kansas's economically recoverable natural gas reserves account for about 0.4% of the U.S. total. In 2022, the state's marketed natural gas production was the lowest on record and made up around 0.4% of U.S. total output.45,46 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.47,48 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.49,50,51

Kansas’s 16 underground natural gas storage fields account for 3% of U.S. storage capacity.

Kansas consumes about twice as much natural gas as it produces.52,53 Natural gas enters the state via pipelines primarily from Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska, and natural gas is shipped out of the state, mainly to Nebraska and Missouri.54 The Mid-Continent 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.55,56 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. storage capacity.57,58

Kansas's industrial sector, which includes agriculture, manufacturing, and crude oil and natural gas production, used a record amount of natural gas in 2022 and accounted for half of the state's end-use natural gas consumption. The residential sector accounted for almost one-fourth of the state's natural gas use, and about 6 out of 10 Kansas households rely on natural gas as their primary energy source for home heating.59,60 The commercial sector, which includes government buildings, businesses, hospitals, and schools, made up one-sixth of the state's gas use. Kansas's electric power sector accounted for one-tenth of the state's natural gas consumption.61,62

Electricity

Wind has been the largest source of electricity generation in Kansas since 2019, when it surpassed coal's contribution. That trend continued in 2022, when wind accounted for 47% of the state's total net generation. Although wind power provided nearly half of in-state generation, only two wind farms are in the top 10 generating facilities by capacity in Kansas, and three wind farms are among the largest 10 by annual generation.63

Coal supplied 32% of Kansas's generation in 2022, with the share of coal-fired electricity generation down by almost half from 63% a decade earlier. Five of the state's 10 largest power plants by capacity and total yearly generation are fueled by coal.64,65 The state's one nuclear power plant, Wolf Creek Generating Station, accounted for 14% of electricity net generation in 2022. Natural gas-fired power plants contributed about 6% of the state's generation. The rest of Kansas's electricity generation came from petroleum liquids, solar energy, biomass, and hydroelectric power.66,67

Kansas generates about one-fourth more electricity than it consumes. The surplus power is sent to other states over the high-voltage transmission lines of the regional grid.68 About one in four state households rely on electricity as their primary energy source for heating.69 Both Kansas's per capita electricity demand in its residential sector and its statewide average electricity price are near the midpoint of the states.70,71

Renewable energy

In 2022, renewable resources provided 47% of Kansas's in-state electricity net generation, almost all of it, about 99%, from wind power.72 Kansas, with its wide plains, is among the states with the best wind power potential.73 The state ranked among the top five states in total wind-powered generation and had the third-largest share of electricity generated from wind, behind Iowa and South Dakota.74 At the beginning of 2023, the state had nearly 8,250 megawatts of installed wind generating capacity.75 An additional 814 megawatts of wind power capacity is scheduled to come online in 2023, including the state's largest wind farm, with 604 megawatts, at the end of the year.76

In 2022, Kansas had the third-largest share of electricity generation from wind power of any state.

Kansas also generates small amounts of renewable electricity from solar, biomass, and hydropower sources.77 Kansas is among the 10 sunniest states in the country.78 The state has a small but growing amount of utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger capacity) solar generation, which was six times larger in 2022 than in 2019. However, the amount of small-scale, customer-sited (less than 1 megawatt capacity) solar generation, mostly from rooftop solar panels, was about one-fourth larger than the amount of solar power from the state's eight utility-scale solar farms in 2022.79 Kansas's renewable generation from biomass comes from two facilities that use landfill gas and have a total generation capacity of 9 megawatts.80 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.81 The state has one hydroelectric generating facility, located on the Kaw River, with 11 turbines that together have 7 megawatts of generating capacity.82

In 2015, the Kansas legislature converted the state's mandatory renewable portfolio standard (RPS) into a voluntary Renewable Energy Standard (RES) goal for the state's investor-owned and cooperative electric utilities. Under the RES 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.83,84 Customer-sited, small-scale generating facilities connected to the grid may be counted by utilities to meet the RES 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.85,86

Coal

The coal-fired Jeffrey Energy Center generating station is the largest power plant by capacity in Kansas.

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 2016.87,88,89 Coal had been mined in Kansas since the 1850s from shallow 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.90 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 second-largest in annual generation (about 8.3 million megawatthours). Small amounts of coal are also transported by truck and rail from Missouri and Colorado for use at Kansas industrial plants.91,92

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), U.S. Energy Atlas, All Energy Infrastructure and Resources, Kansas, accessed May 2, 2023.
4 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Kansas, Maps & Data, accessed May 2, 2023.
5 Hart, Megan, "Report Shows High Hydropower Potential, Some Kansans Skeptical," The Topeka Capital-Journal (May 17, 2014).
6 Maps of the World, Kansas River Map, accessed May 2, 2023.
7 Knapp, Mary, The Climate of Kansas, The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, State Climate Series, accessed May 2, 2023.
8 Current Results, Days of Sunshine Per Year in Kansas, accessed May 2, 2023.
9 National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Map, U.S. Annual Solar GHI, Kansas, February 22, 2018.
10 National Park Service, Tallgrass Prairie, A Complex Prairie Ecosystem, accessed May 2, 2023.
11 Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Agriculture, accessed May 2, 2023.
12 U.S. EIA, Kansas, State Profile and Energy Estimates, Profile Data, Energy Indicators, Economy, Land in Farms, accessed May 2, 2023.
13 Kansas Department of Commerce, Agriculture, accessed May 2, 2023.
14 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas Rank in U.S. Agriculture, updated April 28, 2022.
15 Ethanol Producer Magazine, U.S. Ethanol Plants, Operational, updated April 26, 2023.
16 National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Biomass Resource Data, Tools, and Maps, U.S. Biomass Resource Maps, Kansas, accessed May 2, 2023.
17 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2019.
18 Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Industry, accessed May 2, 2023.
19 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2020.
20 U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Proved Reserves, Reserve Changes, and Production, U.S. Total, Kansas, Proved Reserves as of 12/31, Annual, 2016-21.
21 U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual-Thousand Barrels, 2017-22.
22 American Oil & Gas Historical Society, Oil Discovery in Neodesha, Kansas, accessed May 2, 2023.
23 Kansas Geological Survey, KGS Special Map 6, Oil and Gas Fields of Kansas (2019).
24 U.S. EIA, Kansas Field Production of Crude Oil, Annual, 1981-2022.
25 U.S. EIA, "COVID-19 mitigation efforts result in the lowest U.S. petroleum consumption in decades," Today in Energy (December 20, 2020).
26 U.S. EIA, Refinery Capacity Report 2022 (June 21, 2022), Table 3, Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by State as of January 1, 2022.
27 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16: Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2021.
28 Williams, Salt of the earth: NGL storage in Conway supports natural gas reliability, accessed May 5, 2023.
29 Anderson, Marissa, "Growing Apart: The Mount Belvieu/Conway NGL Price Differential," BTU Analytics (July 10, 2018).
30 U.S. Department of Energy, Ethane Storage and Distribution Hub in the United States (November 2018), p. 5, 42-43.
31 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kansas Rank in U.S. Agriculture, updated April 28, 2022.
32 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).
33 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2021 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Kansas.
34 Ethanol Producer Magazine, U.S. Ethanol Plants, Operational, updated April 26, 2023.
35 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P1, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Physical Units, 2020.
36 U.S. EIA, U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity (August 8, 2022), Detailed nameplate capacity of fuel ethanol plants by Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PAD District) are available in XLS.
37 U.S. EIA, "Most U.S. fuel ethanol production capacity at the start of 2022 was in the Midwest," Today in Energy (August 22, 2022).
38 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Selected Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2020.
39 American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Gasoline Requirements, (January 2018).
40 U.S. EIA, "Almost all U.S. gasoline is blended with 10% ethanol," Today in Energy (May 4, 2016).
41 U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Kansas, accessed May 2, 2023.
42 U.S. EIA, "Most U.S. fuel ethanol production capacity at the start of 2022 was in the Midwest," Today in Energy (August 22, 2022).
43 U.S. EIA, U.S. Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity (August 8, 2022), Detailed annual production capacity by plant is available in XLS format.
44 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Selected Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2020.
45 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Wet NG, Annual, 2016-21.
46 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Marketed Production, Annual-Million Cubic Feet, 2017-22.
47 Kansas Geological Survey, The Hugoton Project, Background, accessed May 3, 2023.
48 U.S. EIA, Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields (March 2015), Table 2.
49 U.S. EIA, Kansas Natural Gas Marketed Production (Million Cubic Feet), 1967-2022.
50 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Marketed Production, Annual-Cubic Feet, 2017-22.
51 U.S. EIA, "U.S. natural gas production grew by 4% in 2022," Today in Energy (March 29, 2023).
52 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Kansas, Annual, 2017-22.
53 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Annual Supply and Disposition by State, Kansas, Annual, 2017-22.
54 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Kansas, Annual, 2016-21.
55 ONEOK, Investor Update (November 2019), Mid-Continent Region, p. 45.
56 ONEOK, Natural Gas Pipelines, accessed May 3, 2023.
57 U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Number of Existing Fields, Annual, 2016-21.
58 U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Storage Capacity, Annual, 2016-21.
59 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2021 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Kansas.
60 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Kansas, Annual, 2017-22.
61 U.S. EIA, Energy Explained, How the United States uses energy, updated June 13, 2022.
62 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Kansas, Annual, 2017-22.
63 U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2021, Table 2A, Ten largest plants by capacity, 2021, and Table 2B, Ten largest plants by generation, 2021.
64 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-22.
65 U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2021, Table 2A, Ten largest plants by capacity, 2021, and Table 2B, Ten largest plants by generation, 2021.
66 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-22.
67 U.S. EIA, U.S. Nuclear Generation and Generating Capacity, Capacity and Generation by State and Reactor, 2023P.
68 U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2021, Table 10, Supply and disposition of electricity.
69 U.S. Census Bureau, House Heating Fuel, Table B25040, 2021 ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables, Kansas.
70 U.S. EIA, Table C17, Electricity Retail Sales, Total and Residential, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2020.
71 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2023), Table 5.6.B.
72 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual, 2001-22.
73 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Kansas, Maps & Data, accessed May 4, 2023.
74 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2023), Tables 1.3.B, 1.14.B., 1.17.B.
75 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2023), Table 1.14.B.
76 U.S. EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Planned Generators as of April 2023, Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Onshore Wind Turbine.
77 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual 2001-22.
78 U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Solar Resource Data, Tools, and Maps, U.S. Annual Solar GHI, Kansas, (February 22, 2018).
79 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation from all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Kansas, Annual, 2001-22.
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 April 2023 Plant State: Kansas, Technology: Landfill Gas.
81 Hart, Megan, "Report Shows High Hydropower Potential, Some Kansans Skeptical," The Topeka Capital-Journal (May 17, 2014).
82 Bowersock Hydropower, About Bowersock, accessed May 5, 2023.
83 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Renewable Energy Goal, Kansas, Overview, updated November 18, 2022.
84 Kansas Corporation Commission, Kansas Renewable Energy Standard, accessed May 5, 2023.
85 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Net Metering, Kansas, Program Overview, updated November 30, 2018.
86 Kansas Corporation Commission, Net Metering in Kansas, accessed May 5, 2023.
87 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2021 (October 18, 2022), Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, 2021.
88 University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Coal mining, accessed May 5, 2023.
89 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2021 (October 18, 2022), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by States and Coal Rank, 2021.
90 University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Coal mining, accessed May 5, 2023.
91 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2021 (October 18, 2022), 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, 2021.
92 U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Kansas Electricity Profile 2021, Table 2A, Ten largest plants by capacity, 2021, and Table 2B, Ten largest plants by generation, 2021.