Last Updated: August 16, 2018

Overview

West Virginia is at the center of the Appalachian Mountain region and has abundant fossil energy and renewable resources.^1,2,3 The state's boundaries follow mountain ridges and rivers, giving West Virginia an unusual outline that includes two panhandles in the northern part of the state. One of the 10 smallest states in area, West Virginia stretches from the Ohio River, where the state's northern panhandle is wedged between Pennsylvania and Ohio, to a point about 240 miles away on West Virginia's southern border with Virginia. Temperature and precipitation vary with elevation, which ranges from less than 300 feet above sea level on the Potomac River in the eastern panhandle to more than 4,800 feet on the state's highest peak.^4,5 The mountain ridges that run northeast to southwest along the eastern side of the state are covered by forests and separated by narrow river valleys. In all, more than three-fourths of the state is forested, providing abundant biomass potential, and the narrow, wind-swept mountain ridges in the eastern part of the state have ample wind resources.^6,7 To the west, the flat-topped highlands and rounded hills of the Appalachian Plateau region contain much of West Virginia's coal, the state's most abundant mined product. Rivers that cross the Appalachian Plateau have plentiful hydroelectric power potential as well.^8,9,10 With growing energy production from the Marcellus and Utica shales in West Virginia, natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids contribute increasing amounts to the state's energy economy.¹¹

Even though West Virginia is a significant consumer of energy, and is among the top 10 states on a per capita basis, it is a net energy supplier to other states.¹² West Virginia provides about 4.5% of the nation's total energy, largely because of its coal production.¹³ The industrial sector is the largest end-use energy-consuming sector in West Virginia, accounting for about 40% of energy use.¹⁴ Mining, including coal, crude oil, and natural gas extraction, is a large and energy-intensive part of the state's economy.¹⁵ The transportation sector is the second-largest, accounting for almost 25% of the state's energy use, while the residential sector consumes 20% of the energy.¹⁶

Coal

West Virginia is among the top 3 states with the largest amount of recoverable coal reserves at producing mines, and the state accounts for 11% of the nation's coal production.^17,18 Coal has been an important part of West Virginia's economy for more than a century. The existence of coal in West Virginia was first reported in the early 1700s, but large-scale mining did not begin until the mid-1800s.¹⁹ In the 21st century, West Virginia is the second-largest coal producer in the nation, after Wyoming. The state is also the largest producer of bituminous coal, which contains less moisture and has a higher heat content than some other types of coal and is used primarily for electric power generation.^20,21 Coal deposits are found in 53 of West Virginia's 55 counties, with only 2 counties in the state's eastern panhandle holding no known coal deposits, and 43 counties have economically recoverable coal reserves.²² All of West Virginia's mined coal is bituminous, but sulfur content varies across the state. The Central Appalachian region, which includes the southern part of West Virginia, is the nation's primary source for bituminous coal that is relatively low in sulfur. Coal from the Northern Appalachian region, which includes northern West Virginia, has relatively high sulfur content.²³ Most of West Virginia's coal production and reserves are found in underground mines.^24,25

About three-fourths of West Virginia's mined coal is shipped out of state, mostly to almost two dozen other states, but also to foreign markets. The remaining one-fourth of the mined coal is used mostly by West Virginia's electric power sector.^26,27,28 In addition to the mined coal that stays in West Virginia, coal also arrives from states in the surrounding Appalachian region, with most of that coal mined in Ohio and Pennsylvania.^29,30

Electricity

Coal-fired power plants account for more than 90% of West Virginia's electricity generation, and 9 of the 10 largest power plants in the state, by capacity and by actual electricity generation, are coal-fired.^31,32 Most of the rest of the state's electricity generation is from hydroelectric, wind, and natural gas-fired facilities, with each energy source generating record amounts of electricity in the state during 2017.³³ West Virginia is one of only seven states east of the Mississippi River that does not have a nuclear power plant.³⁴

West Virginia generates much more electricity than it consumes. Although more than two-fifths of West Virginia households use electricity as their primary source for home heating, retail electricity sales to all customers account for less than half of the net electricity generated in the state.^35,36 As a result, West Virginia is a net supplier of electricity to the regional grid, and is among the top 10 states in the nation in net interstate sales of electricity.³⁷

Natural gas

West Virginia overlies part of the nation's largest natural gas-producing area, where gas is drilled from the Marcellus and Utica-Point Pleasant shale formations.^38,39,40 West Virginia is the seventh-largest producer of marketed natural gas in the nation, mainly because of shale gas production, and its natural gas reserves are the fourth largest of any state.^41,42 In 2014, the state's annual marketed production exceeded 1 trillion cubic feet for the first time, and reached a record 1.6 trillion cubic feet in 2017. In 2016, shale wells accounted for almost 90% of West Virginia's natural gas production, and the state's shale gas reserves exceeded 23 trillion cubic feet.^43,44,45 Additional natural gas resources exist in West Virginia's conventional natural gas fields and in the state's many coal fields as coalbed methane, although coalbed methane production and proved reserves are small.^46,47,48

West Virginia is crossed by several thousand miles of interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.^49,50 Natural gas moves into and out of the state via the interstate pipeline systems, entering West Virginia from the surrounding states, primarily from Pennsylvania, and exiting to Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. On balance, more natural gas leaves the state than enters because the amount of natural gas produced in West Virginia is much more than the state's natural gas consumption.^51,52,53 New pipeline projects have come online in recent years to move natural gas from the Marcellus producing areas of West Virginia to markets in the Northeast, Midwest, and Gulf Coast, and to expedite development of the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale.^54,55,56 Many natural gas processing plants and pipelines were constructed or expanded in West Virginia. The processing plants separate dry natural gas from the associated natural gas liquids that are produced from the Marcellus Shale. Pipelines were built to transport natural gas liquids from Appalachia to the Texas Gulf Coast, to eastern refineries, and to the Midwest and southern Canada.^{57,58,59,60,61}

West Virginia has 31 underground natural gas storage fields, 30 in depleted natural gas reservoirs and 1 in an existing aquifer.^62,63,64 Those fields have a total storage capacity of about 531 billion cubic feet of natural gas and account for almost 6% of the nation's total underground natural gas storage capacity.⁶⁵ The proximity of that storage capacity to northeastern markets makes West Virginia an important supplier to the region during the winter months when natural gas demand peaks.^66,67

West Virginia's industrial sector is the largest natural gas consumer among the state's end-use sectors. The residential sector, where about two-fifths of West Virginia households use natural gas for home heating, is the second largest. The consumption of natural gas for electric power generation has increased in recent years, but is much less than in any other sector.^68,69

Petroleum

West Virginia's economically recoverable crude oil reserves are small, and the state accounts for less than 1% of U.S. oil production. However, the state's annual oil production has nearly quadrupled since 2012 to over nine million barrels per year.^70,71,72 West Virginia's first oil field began producing just before the Civil War, and the state's total oil production peaked at 16 million barrels in 1900.⁷³ Less than 10% of the state's crude oil production comes from stripper wells (each producing fewer than 10 barrels of oil per day).⁷⁴ Recent drilling in the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia's northern panhandle discovered liquid hydrocarbons, including crude oil and natural gas liquids. Most of the recent increased production has come from the northern part of the state.^75,76

West Virginia has one oil refinery, located on the Ohio River at Newell, at the extreme northern tip of the northern panhandle. The Newell refinery can process about 22,000 barrels of crude oil per day.⁷⁷ The crude oils processed at the refinery are Appalachian grade sweet crude oils, particularly Pennsylvania grade, that are gathered from production wells throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and New York. The crude oil arrives at the refinery by truck, barge, and pipeline. The refinery produces ultra-low sulfur fuel products and paraffinic specialty products, such as compounding motor oils, greases, and pharmaceutical and agricultural oil, that are sold in the regional market.⁷⁸ The Ohio River, on the state's western border, serves as a major petroleum product transportation route.⁷⁹

Per capita petroleum consumption in West Virginia ranks below the national average.^80,81 More than three-fourths of the petroleum consumed in the state is used as transportation fuels.⁸² Reformulated gasoline is not required in West Virginia, and conventional motor gasoline can be used statewide.⁸³ There are no ethanol plants in West Virginia, but there are around three dozen ethanol fueling stations selling E85 motor fuel, a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.^84,85

Renewable energy

Nearly 5% of West Virginia's electricity generation comes from renewable resources, primarily hydropower and wind energy. Hydroelectric power accounts for almost 2.5% of the state's net electricity generation.⁸⁶ It has long been used in mountainous West Virginia, and the state's oldest hydroelectric power plant still in service began operating in 1909. West Virginia's largest hydroelectric facility, with more than 100 megawatts of capacity, was built in the mid-1930s, and the newest, with a capacity of 44 megawatts, began operating in 2016.^87,88

West's Virginia's power generation from wind energy has increased, reaching an all-time high in 2017. Since 2010, wind's contribution to the state's net generation has almost doubled.⁸⁹ Most of West Virginia's wind energy potential is on the narrow ridges in the mountainous eastern third of the state.⁹⁰ There are almost 700 megawatts of installed wind capacity in West Virginia, and wind energy contributes about 2% of the state's net electricity generation.^91,92 West Virginia has no large, utility-scale solar generation facilities, but does produce some solar power from distributed (small-scale, customer-sited) rooftop solar panels.⁹³ Nationally, West Virginia ranks among the five lowest states in installed solar generation capacity.⁹⁴

In 2015, West Virginia became the first state to repeal its renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The state passed a RPS in 2009 that required investor-owned electric utilities and retail suppliers with more than 30,000 customers to obtain 25% of their electricity from eligible alternative and renewable energy resources by 2025. The state was one of the few in the nation that had allowed a variety of alternative, non-renewable technologies, including advanced coal technology, coalbed methane, and natural gas, to meet a RPS requirement.^95,96

Endnotes

¹ Appalachian Regional Commission, The Appalachian Region, accessed July 19, 2018.
² U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), West Virginia Profile Data, Reserves, accessed July 19, 2018.
³ National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Geospatial Data Science, Maps, Biomass, Geothermal, Marine & Hydrokinetic, Solar, Wind, accessed July 19, 2018.
⁴ NETSTATE, The Geography of West Virginia, The Land, accessed July 19, 2018.
⁵ Law, Kevin, "West Virginia's "Wild and Wonderful" Climate," Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, West Virginia's Climate, The CoCoRaHS ‘State Climates' Series, accessed July 19, 2018.
⁶ West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Statewide Forest Resource Assessment (June 14, 2010), p. 3.
⁷ U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in West Virginia, accessed July 19, 2018.
⁸ U.S. EIA, West Virginia Profile Overview, All coal mines, Hydroelectric Power Plant, and Tight Oil/Gas Play Map Layers, accessed July 19, 2018.
⁹ West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Physiographic Provinces of West Virginia, revised May 22, 2017.
¹⁰ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Hydropower Asset Assessment Program, The National Hydropower Map (2018).
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¹⁴ U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table F30, Total Energy Consumption, Price, and Expenditure Estimates, 2016.
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⁶⁵ U.S. EIA, Underground Natural Gas Storage Capacity, Total Storage Capacity, 2016.
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