Where Virginia Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 56.2% | 58,388 GWh |
| Coal | 3.6% | 3,698 GWh |
| Nuclear | 26.9% | 27,910 GWh |
| Wind | 0.0% | 46 GWh |
| Solar | 9.4% | 9,756 GWh |
| Hydro | 1.0% | 1,005 GWh |
| Other | 3.0% | 3,132 GWh |
103.9 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 2026. Shares are of net generation within Virginia, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.
Counting rooftop solar
EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Virginia generated 1,157 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 9.4% to 10.4%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 5.7% | 57.3% | +51.6 pts |
| Coal | 51.0% | 3.4% | −47.6 pts |
| Nuclear | 34.8% | 26.6% | −8.1 pts |
| Wind | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Solar | 0.0% | 8.6% | +8.6 pts |
| Hydro | 1.4% | 1.2% | −0.2 pts |
| Other | 7.2% | 2.9% | −4.3 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 13.9% | 40.7% | Natural gas 56.2% |
| U.S. average | 25.4% | 43.0% | Natural gas 40.9% |
| District of Columbia | 50.1% | 50.1% | Other |
| North Carolina | 13.8% | 44.1% | Natural gas |
| Tennessee | 13.0% | 58.5% | Nuclear |
| Maryland | 11.0% | 48.7% | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | 9.4% | 9.4% | Coal |
| West Virginia | 5.9% | 5.9% | Coal |
Virginia's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 56.2% of Virginia's electricity generation in the trailing twelve months to August 2026, making it the largest source. Nuclear power accounted for 26.9%, and solar for 9.4% on a utility-scale basis, or 10.4% when rooftop solar is included. Together, carbon-free sources—nuclear and renewables—made up 40.7% of the state's generation, while renewables alone contributed 13.9%.
Virginia's renewable share ranked 33rd of the 50 states and DC, and its solar share ranked 14th. The renewable share sits 11.5 percentage points below the national average of 25.4%, though gas accounts for a larger portion of Virginia's mix than the nation's: 56.2% against 40.9%. Among the state's six bordering jurisdictions, only DC has a higher renewable share at 50.1%; North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Kentucky and West Virginia all generate lower renewable shares.
The generation mix has shifted substantially since 2001. Coal fell from 51% in 2001 to 3.4% in 2025, while natural gas surged from 5.7% to 57.3% over the same span. Nuclear declined from 34.8% to 26.6%, and solar emerged from nothing to reach 8.6% in 2025. Renewables as a whole grew from 3.7% in 2001 to 13.2% in 2025, an increase of 9.5 percentage points.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Virginia's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Virginia's power comes from solar?
›Where does Virginia get most of its electricity?
›Does Virginia still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Virginia getting greener?
How this is measured
Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to August 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.
“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.
This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.