Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: February 20, 2025
Overview
Nuclear power is Virginia’s largest source of primary energy production.
Virginia lies midway between the southern tip of Florida and the northern coast of Maine. The state stretches almost 430 miles from west to east and includes the southern end of the Delmarva Peninsula on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay.1 To the west, the flat coastal plain meets the rolling hills of the Piedmont region at the Fall Line, a boundary where the state's rivers decline in rapids and waterfalls.2 However, most of the state's hydroelectric power plants are further west, where the Piedmont rises into the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Appalachian region that occupies much of western Virginia contains most of the state's coal, the primary fossil energy resource produced in Virginia.3,4,5 The Appalachian Plateau, which cuts across the southwestern corner of Virginia, holds nearly all the state's crude oil and natural gas fields.6 Forests cover more than 16 million acres, or about three-fifths, of Virginia, and the state's widely distributed forests hold abundant biomass resources. Virginia also has significant offshore wind energy potential.7,8 Nuclear power is Virginia's largest source of primary energy production.9 Even though uranium, the source for nuclear fuel, was discovered in southern Virginia, uranium mining in the state has been banned since the 1980s.10
The transportation sector accounts for three-tenths of Virginia's energy consumption.11 The state has the nation's third-largest state-maintained highway system, plus six major interstate highways, and more than a dozen railroads that operate on 3,500 miles of railway in the state. Virginia also has nine commercial airports, including two near Washington, DC, that are among the nation's busiest, and one of the nation's largest seaports, the Port of Virginia.12,13,14 The state's commercial sector, which includes many colleges, universities, hospitals, and federal government facilities, also accounts for three-tenths of Virginia's energy use.15,16 The state is the nation's 12th most populated, and its residential sector makes up about one-fifth of energy consumption.17,18 Virginia's industrial sector, including about 7 million acres of farms, accounts for slightly less than one-fifth of the state's energy use.19,20 Even though Virginia consumes three times more energy than the state produces, its per capita energy use is near the mid-point of the states.21,22
Coal
In 2023, Virginia ports handled about one-third of the nation’s coal exports.
Virginia's 41 operating coal mines have slightly more than 1% of the nation's total coal reserves and account for about 2% of U.S. coal production.23 However, the state has the nation's largest coal port complex and is the leading exporter of U.S. coal. In 2023, about one-third of the nation's total coal exports were shipped through the Norfolk Customs District, which includes Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Newport News. Almost all the coal exported from Virginia's seaports came from other states.24 More than two-fifths of the coal mined in Virginia was also exported. Although most of Virginia's mined coal was sent to other states or out of the country, more than one-third of the state's coal that was distributed domestically was used in Virginia.25,26
In 2023, Virginia consumed nearly 1.9 million tons of coal. About 1.3 million tons of that coal was mined in-state.27,28 Most of the additional coal Virginia needed came from West Virginia and Kentucky.29 The industrial sector, which includes coking plants, accounted for 58% of the state's coal consumption. The electric power sector, which has seen a decline in coal-fired generation over the past decade, makes up 41% of the state's coal use. Minor amounts of coal went to the commercial sector.30,31,32 Less than 0.1% of Virginia households heat their homes with coal.33 Overall, Virginia accounted for about 0.4% of the nation's total coal consumption in 2023.34
Natural gas
Most of Virginia’s natural gas production comes from wells drilled into coal-rich formations.
Virginia accounts for less than 0.5% of the nation's total natural gas reserves and production.35,36 All of the state's natural gas production occurs in seven counties located in southwestern Virginia.37 Most of the state's natural gas is coalbed methane, which is natural gas produced from organic material as it is transformed into coal.38,39 Virginia contains one-fifth of U.S. coalbed methane proved reserves, the third-largest amount of any state.40 In 2023, more than four-fifths of Virginia's natural gas production was from coalbed wells, and the state accounted for about one-tenth of the nation's total coalbed methane production.41 The state's annual natural gas production from all sources has steadily declined from a peak of more than 151 billion cubic feet in 2011 to about 83 billion cubic feet in 2023.42
Virginia's natural gas consumption is nearly eight times greater than the state's production.43,44 Most of the natural gas delivered to consumers in Virginia comes from the Appalachian region by interstate natural gas pipelines. In the past, the largest share of the state's natural gas supply came from the south through North Carolina. However, after 2011, natural gas movements into Virginia from the south abruptly declined as more natural gas entered the state from the north through Maryland because of the increase in natural gas production over the past decade from the Marcellus Shale in nearby Pennsylvania.45,46,47,48 About two-thirds of the natural gas entering Virginia continues to other states. The largest share of natural gas leaving Virginia, about 58%, is sent south to North Carolina. Increasing amounts have also gone to Tennessee. About 38% of the natural gas is delivered to Maryland. A small amount of the natural gas that leaves Virginia enters Washington, DC, and the surrounding Maryland suburbs by way of the local natural gas utility.49,50 Some of the natural gas that Virginia receives is placed in the state's two underground natural gas storage facilities. Their combined total storage capacity is almost 9 billion cubic feet, about 0.1% of the nation's total.51,52
The electric power sector is Virginia's largest natural gas consumer, accounting for 59% of the state's deliveries in 2023, and natural gas use in that sector has more than doubled since 2013.53,54 The industrial sector made up 18% of Virginia's natural gas deliveries. The residential sector, where one in three state households use natural gas for home heating, accounted for 12%.55,56 The commercial sector consumed almost 11%. A small amount of natural gas went to the transportation sector for use as vehicle fuel.57 Virginia has 25 compressed natural gas vehicle fueling stations, and 7 of them are accessible to the public.58
Petroleum
Virginia has minor crude oil reserves and only a very small amount of crude oil production, all of which is from wells in two counties in the far southwestern corner of the state.59,60,61 Virginia began producing crude oil in 1942, but the state's total cumulative crude oil production since then is less than 1 million barrels. In 1983, Virginia's total annual production reached a peak of 65,000 barrels, but it was only about 4,000 barrels in 2023.62,63 Virginia does not have any operating petroleum refineries, and no major crude oil pipelines cross the state.64,65 Refined petroleum products arrive in Virginia by pipeline and by ship. Two major petroleum product pipelines—Colonial Pipeline and PPL Pipeline (formerly known as Plantation Pipeline)—deliver refined petroleum products to locations across the state.66 The Colonial Pipeline originates in Texas and has several delivery locations in Virginia before reaching its endpoint in New Jersey.67 The PPL Pipeline brings petroleum products north from Louisiana and Mississippi to its terminus in northern Virginia near Washington, DC.68
Virginia uses more petroleum than about three-fourths of the states, but consumes less per capita than almost three-fifths of the states.69 The transportation sector accounts for about 86% of the petroleum products consumed in the state, with three-fifths of that as motor gasoline.70,71 Federal clean air regulations require counties and cities in the northern Virginia area to use reformulated motor gasoline blended with ethanol to reduce harmful emissions. Several counties in the Richmond and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News metropolitan areas in central and eastern Virginia also require reformulated motor gasoline to reduce ozone levels and smog.72,73 The state's industrial sector accounts for almost 7% of state petroleum consumption, and the commercial sector uses nearly 4%. The residential sector, where about 1 in 13 households heat with propane, heating oil, or other petroleum products, consumes about 3%. The electric power sector uses very little petroleum.74,75
Electricity
In 2023, natural gas and nuclear power combined provided 87% of Virginia’s electricity generation.
Natural gas and nuclear power accounted for most of Virginia's total in-state electricity net generation in 2023. Natural gas fueled the largest share at 55%, and the state's two nuclear power plants supplied 32%.76,77 Renewable energy sources, including solar energy, biomass, and hydroelectric power, provided 12% of the state's electricity supply. Coal fueled almost 2% of Virginia's total in-state generation, and petroleum supplied most of the rest.78 Coal-fired power plants supplied the largest share of the state's net generation until 2009, when coal's contribution fell below that of nuclear power. As coal-fired generation decreased, natural gas-fired generation increased. In 2012, natural gas fueled more of Virginia's in-state electricity generation than coal for the first time. Natural gas-fired generation has exceeded coal's contribution in every year since then. Natural gas surpassed nuclear power for the first time in 2015. As coal-fired generation continued to decline, the contribution from renewable energy sources increased. As a result, in 2019 renewable resources supplied more of Virginia's total net generation than coal for the first time.79,80
Virginia's electricity consumption is greater than its total generation, and the state receives additional power from the regional grid.81,82 Virginia is the nation's 10th largest electricity consumer as measured by electricity sales, but ranks 15th in power sales on a per capita basis.83 The average electricity price in Virginia is well below the national average and is lower than in more than half of the states.84 In 2023, the commercial sector accounted for 56% of Virginia's electricity consumption.85 Northern Virginia has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, and data centers are among the most energy-intensive commercial building types.86,87 The residential sector, where most households have air conditioning and almost 6 in 10 use electricity for home heating, accounted for 33% of state electricity use.88,89,90 The industrial sector made up 11% of the state's electricity consumption. The transportation sector, which consists of Virginia's rail and subway systems in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, uses a small amount of the state's electric power.91 At the end of 2024, Virginia had almost 1,740 public-access electric vehicle charging locations.92
Renewable energy
Renewable resources provided about 12% of Virginia's total electricity generation in 2023. The largest share was from solar energy, which accounted for almost three-fifths of the state's renewable electricity and about 7% of the state's total net generation, primarily from utility-scale solar facilities (1-megawatt and larger). Solar energy's contribution to the state's total in-state electricity generation rose from about 1.6 million megawatthours (MWh) to over 6 million MWh between 2020 and 2023.93 Virginia's first utility-scale solar farm came online in early 2016. By the end of 2024, Virginia had about 100 utility-scale solar power facilities. The largest is a 240-megawatt solar farm located northwest of Richmond.94 Virginia's utility-scale and small-scale (less than 1-megawatt) solar installations have a combined total capacity of about 4,800 megawatts. About one-seventh of the state's solar capacity is at small-scale customer-sited installations, such as residential rooftop solar panels.95
Biomass fueled about three-tenths of Virginia's renewable electricity and 4% of its total electricity generation in 2023. Wood and wood waste are the most common forms of biomass used for electricity generation in Virginia, and facilities that use wood and wood waste account for about three-fifths of the state's biomass-fueled generating capacity.96,97 Virginia's forest biomass resources provide the feedstock for the state's seven wood pellet manufacturing plants that can produce nearly one million tons of wood pellets per year.98 Wood pellets are used for heating and to generate electricity.99 About 1% of the state's households heat with wood.100 Virginia's one biodiesel plant has a production capacity of about 5 million gallons per year.101 However, Virginia uses more than 11 million gallons of biodiesel annually.102 Virginia has no fuel ethanol production facilities, but the state accounts for about 3% of the nation's fuel ethanol consumption. Almost all of the 394 million gallons of ethanol consumed in the state was in its transportation sector.103,104
Virginia’s Bath County Pumped Storage Station is one of the largest pumped hydroelectric storage facilities in the world.
Virginia has 25 conventional hydroelectric power plants and 2 pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities, including one of the world's largest.105 In 2023, the conventional hydroelectric plants accounted for less than 2% of Virginia's in-state generation.106 Pumped-storage hydroelectric plants generate electricity during peak demand periods using water previously pumped into an elevated storage reservoir during off-peak periods, then release it to flow back to a lower reservoir through turbines that generate electricity. It consumes more power than it generates, but it provides power in periods of high demand when additional generating capacity is needed.107,108 Virginia's Bath County Pumped Storage Station is one of the two pumped hydroelectric facilities in the state. With a net generating capacity of 3,015 megawatts, it is the largest power plant in Virginia by capacity. It is also the largest pumped-storage hydroelectric plant in the nation and the second-largest in the world.109,110,111
Most of Virginia's onshore wind energy potential is in narrow bands on the state's western mountain ridges.112 However, much of that area is national park land with limited development potential. Currently, no utility-scale onshore wind projects are online in the state, although some small wind projects were installed at host schools in Virginia as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind for Schools program.113,114 The state has large areas with wind energy potential off its Atlantic coast and in the Chesapeake Bay. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project, about 27 miles off Virginia Beach, has two 6-megawatt turbines that came online in January 2021.115,116 The 12-megawatt project is the precursor to the planned development of a 1,265-megawatt wind farm with 176 wind turbines in an adjacent federal lease tract. That project is targeted for completion by early 2027 and would provide power to up to 660,000 homes.117,118,119 In January 2025, the federal government temporarily withdrew all federal offshore areas from leasing for wind energy development.120
In 2020, Virginia replaced its voluntary renewable portfolio goal with a mandatory renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS requires that the state's two largest investor-owned utilities, Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power, retire their carbon-emitting electricity generating units and construct, acquire, or purchase generating capacity located in Virginia that uses solar and wind energy. Dominion Energy Virginia must obtain 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045, and American Electric Power is to meet its 100% renewable target by 2050. The Act establishes an energy efficiency standard requiring each utility to achieve incremental annual energy efficiency savings.121,122 Like several other states, Virginia gives electric utility customers the option to purchase 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources. If a utility does not offer a program that meets the 100% renewable energy requirement, its customers can purchase renewable power from any licensed retail supplier.123
Endnotes
1 NETSTATE, Virginia, The Geography of Virginia, accessed January 17, 2025.
2 Virginia Museum of History & Culture, The Regions of Virginia, Piedmont, accessed January 17, 2025.
3 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Virginia, Profile Overview, Interactive Map, Virginia, Layer List: Hydroelectric Power Plants, Coal Mines, Coal Fields, accessed January 17, 2025.
4 NETSTATE, Virginia, Virginia Economy, accessed January 17, 2025.
5 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Tables P2, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2022.
6 Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Energy, Oil and Natural Gas, accessed January 17, 2025.
7 Virginia Department of Forestry, State of the Forest 2024 Fiscal Year, p. 5.
8 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Virginia, Maps & Data, accessed January 17, 2025.
9 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Tables P2, Primary Energy Production Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2022.
10 Mamon, Grace, "A new push to overturn Virginia's uranium mining moratorium may be on the horizon," Cardinal News (November 22, 2022).
11 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2022 (trillion Btu).
12 Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia's Highway System, updated September 16, 2024.
13 McDonnell, Gov. Bob, "The Commonwealth of Virginia—Staying Competitive in Today's Global Marketplace," Trade & Industry Development (July 18, 2013).
14 The Port of Virginia, Hampton Roads Harbor, Calendar 2022 Trade Overview.
15 U.S. EIA, Use of Energy Explained, How the United States Uses Energy, updated July 15, 2024.
16 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2022 (trillion Btu).
17 U.S. Census, State Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024.
18 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2022 (trillion Btu).
19 U.S. EIA, Virginia, Profile Data, Energy Indicators, accessed January 17, 2025.
20 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C1, Energy Consumption Overview: Estimates by Energy Source and End-Use Sector, 2022 (trillion Btu).
21 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table P3, Total Primary Energy Production and Total Energy Consumption Estimates in Trillion Btu, 2022.
22 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C14, Total Energy Consumption Estimates per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2022.
23 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), Table 1, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Mine Type, 2023 and 2022, and Table 14, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines by State, 2023 and 2022
24 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, October-December 2023 (April 2024), Table 13, U.S. Coal Exports by Customs District.
25 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), Domestic and Foreign Distribution of U.S. Coal by State of Origin, 2023.
26 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), By Coal Origin State, Virginia Table OS-23, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Origin State, 2023.
27 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), Table 26, U.S. Coal Consumption by End Use Sector, Census Division, and State, 2023 and 2022.
28 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), By Coal Origin State, Virginia Table OS-23, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Origin State, 2023.
29 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), By Coal Destination State, Virginia Table DS-39, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Destination State, 2023.
30 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F23, Coal Consumption Estimates and Imports, and Exports of Coal Coke, 2023.
31 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2023 (October 30, 2024), Table 26, U.S. Coal Consumption by End Use Sector, Census Division, and State, 2023 and 2022.
32 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
33 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Virginia, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
34 U.S. EIA, Coal Data Browser, Total consumption, Electric power, Commercial and institutional, Coke plants, Other industrial, United States, Virginia, Annual, 2000-23.
35 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Dry Natural Gas, Annual, 2016-21.
36 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2018-23.
37 Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Energy, Natural Gas, accessed January 21, 2025.
38 American Geosciences Institute, What is coalbed methane?, accessed January 21, 2025.
39 Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Energy, Natural Gas, accessed January 21, 2025.
40 U.S. EIA, Coalbed Methane, Proved Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31, Annual, 2014-19.
41 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Virginia, and U.S., Annual, 2018-23.
42 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Virginia Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 1967-2023.
43 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
44 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2018-23.
45 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Virginia Natural Gas Interstate Receipts From North Carolina, 1989-2023.
46 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Virginia Natural Gas Interstate Net Receipts from Maryland, 1989-2023.
47 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Maryland Natural Gas Net Receipts from Pennsylvania, 1989-2023.
48 U.S. EIA, "2022 Appalachian natural gas production flat with productivity declines in key counties," Today in Energy (July 12, 2023).
49 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
50 Washington Gas Light Co., Corporate Governance, Corporate and Executive Summary, accessed January 21, 2025.
51 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
52 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Storage Capacity, Annual, 2018-23.
53 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
54 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Virginia Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Consumers, 1997-2023.
55 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
56 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Virginia, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
57 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Virginia, Annual, 2018-23.
58 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Alternative Fueling Station Locator, Virginia, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Public and Private Access, Available, accessed January 21, 2025.
59 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Crude Oil Production, Annual, 2018-23.
60 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas, U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, Year-end 2022 (April 29, 2024), Table 6.
61 Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Energy, Geology and Mineral Resources, Energy Resources, Oil, accessed January 22, 2025.
62 Virginia Department of Energy, Virginia Energy, Geology and Mineral Resources, Energy Resources, Oil, accessed January 22, 2025.
63 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Virginia Field Production of Crude Oil, Annual, 1981-2023.
64 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, Virginia Number of Operable Refineries as of January 1, 1982-2024.
65 U.S. Department of Energy, State of Virginia Energy Sector Risk Profile, Petroleum, p. 6, accessed January 22, 2025.
66 U.S. EIA, Virginia Profile Overview, Interactive Map, Virginia, Layer List: Petroleum Product Pipelines, Petroleum Product Terminals, accessed January 22, 2025.
67 Colonial Pipeline Company, About Colonial, System Map, accessed January 22, 2025.
68 Kinder Morgan, Inc., Operations, Products Pipelines, Overview, Southeast Operations, Products (SE) Pipe Line Corporation, pipeline map, accessed January 22, 2025.
69 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C15, Petroleum Consumption Estimates, Total and per Capita, Ranked by State, 2022.
70 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2022.
71 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C8, Transportation Sector Energy Consumption Estimates, 2022 (trillion Btu).
72 Southern States Energy Board, Gardner, K. W., U.S. Gasoline Requirements, (January 2018).
73 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gasoline Standards, Reformulated Gasoline, accessed January 22, 2025.
74 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Virginia, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
75 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F16, Total Petroleum Consumption Estimates, 2022.
76 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
77 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Virginia, updated March 9, 2021.
78 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
79 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Virginia Electricity Profile 2023, Table 5, Electric power industry generation by primary energy source, 1990 through 2023.
80 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
81 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Virginia Electricity Profile 2023, Table 10, Supply and Disposition of Electricity, 1990 Through 2023.
82 PJM, Who we are, accessed January 24, 2025.
83 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.
84 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Geography (Check all), Average retail price of electricity, All sectors, Annual, 2023.
85 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, All sectors, Annual, 2023.
86 Kidd, David, "The Data Center Capital of the World is in Virginia," Governing (July 27, 2023).
87 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Data Centers and Servers, Buildings, accessed January 24, 2025.
88 U.S. EIA, 2020 RECS Survey Data, State Data, Housing characteristics, Highlights for air conditioning in U.S. homes by state, 2020.
89 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Virginia, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
90 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, All sectors, Annual, 2023.
91 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Retail sales of electricity (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, All sectors, Annual, 2023.
92 U.S. EIA, Monthly Energy Review (January 2025), Appendix F monthly state file, XLS, Public Ports only and Public & Private Ports combined.
93 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
94 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Solar Photovoltaic.
95 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Electric Power Monthly (December 2024), Table 6.2.B.
96 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
97 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Wood/Wood Waste Biomass, Municipal Solid Waste, Landfill Gas, and Other Waste Biomass.
98 U.S. EIA, Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, Table 1, Densified biomass fuel manufacturing facilities in the United States by state, region, and capacity, October 2024.
99 U.S. EIA, Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, About the Densified Biomass Fuel Report, accessed January 24, 2025.
100 U.S. Census Bureau, Tables, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, Virginia, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
101 U.S. EIA, U.S. Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity, U.S. biodiesel plant count by state, 2024, Virginia.
102 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F30, Biodiesel Consumption Estimates, 2022.
103 U.S. EIA, Petroleum & Other Liquids, U.S. Fuel Ethanol Plant Production Capacity, U.S. fuel ethanol plant count by state, 2024.
104 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F29, Fuel ethanol consumption estimates, 2022.
105 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Conventional Hydroelectric, Hydroelectric Pumped Storage.
106 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors (thousand megawatthours), Virginia, Annual, 2001-23.
107 U.S. EIA, Glossary, Pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, accessed January 27, 2025.
108 U.S. EIA, "Pumped storage provides grid reliability even with net generation loss," Today in Energy (July 8, 2013).
109 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Virginia Electricity Profile 2023, Table 2A, Ten largest plants by capacity, 2023.
110 International Hydropower Association, "China's Fengning Station: World's Largest Pumped Hydro Power Plant Sets New Global Benchmark" (August 16, 2024).
111 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Hydroelectric Pumped Storage.
112 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Virginia Land-Based Wind Speed at 100 Meters, accessed January 27, 2025.
113 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Onshore Wind Turbine.
114 OpenEI, Wind for Schools, Wind for Schools Turbine Data, accessed January 27, 2025.
115 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Operable Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Offshore Wind Turbine.
116 U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management, "Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project (CVOW) Research Project," accessed January 27, 2025.
117 Skopljak, Nadja, "Second Turbine Up at Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project," offshoreWIND.biz (June 29, 2020).
118 U.S. EIA, Electricity, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (based on Form EIA-860M as a supplement to Form EIA-860), Inventory of Proposed Generators as of December 2024, Plant State: Virginia, Technology: Offshore Wind Turbine.
119 Virginia Department of Energy, The Commonwealth of Virginia's 2022 Energy Plan, Renewable Energy, p. 21.
120 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).
121 Virginia Legislative Information System, 2020 Session, SB 851 Electric utility regulation; environmental goals, Virginia Clean Economy Act, approved April 11, 2020.
122 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Virginia, Renewable Portfolio Standard, updated November 26, 2024.
123 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Virginia, Mandatory Utility Green Power Option, updated August 30, 2021.