Where West Virginia Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 7.2% | 3,900 GWh |
| Coal | 86.5% | 46,898 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 3.2% | 1,731 GWh |
| Solar | 0.5% | 290 GWh |
| Hydro | 2.2% | 1,211 GWh |
| Other | 0.3% | 173 GWh |
54.2 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within West 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. West Virginia generated 94 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 0.5% to 0.7%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 0.3% | 6.2% | +5.8 pts |
| Coal | 98.0% | 86.9% | −11.1 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 0.0% | 3.7% | +3.7 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 0.5% | +0.5 pts |
| Hydro | 1.2% | 2.4% | +1.2 pts |
| Other | 0.5% | 0.3% | −0.2 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 6.0% | 6.0% | Coal 86.5% |
| U.S. average | 25.2% | 42.9% | Natural gas 40.7% |
| Virginia | 13.8% | 40.3% | Natural gas |
| Maryland | 10.6% | 48.8% | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | 8.7% | 8.7% | Coal |
| Ohio | 8.2% | 19.9% | Natural gas |
| Pennsylvania | 3.9% | 34.8% | Natural gas |
West Virginia's generation mix in context
Coal generates 86.8% of the electricity produced in West Virginia, a commanding share that dwarfs the national figure of 15.8%. The state produced 54.6 TWh between June 2025 and May 2026. Gas makes up 7.0%, while renewables and carbon-free sources together account for 5.9% of generation. Nationally, coal is not the largest source — natural gas leads at 40.8% — and the renewable share stands at 24.9%, more than four times higher than West Virginia's.
Wind and hydro are West Virginia's main renewable contributors, at 3.1% and 2.2% respectively. Solar accounts for 0.5% of utility-scale generation, or 0.7% when rooftop solar is included. The renewable share places the state 46th among 51 states and DC with generation data. Most bordering states generate renewable electricity at higher shares: Virginia at 13.7%, Maryland at 10.8%, Kentucky at 8.6%, and Ohio at 8.1%. Pennsylvania is the exception, with a lower renewable share of 3.8%.
Since 2001, coal's share has fallen 11.1 percentage points, from 98% in 2001 to 86.9% in 2025. Gas has risen 5.9 points to 6.2% in 2025, while wind generation emerged from nothing to reach 3.7% in 2025. Solar and hydro have also grown: solar from 0% to 0.5% in 2025, and hydro from 1.2% to 2.4% in 2025. The renewable share climbed from 1.2% in 2001 to 6.6% in 2025, a gain of 5.4 points.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of West Virginia's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of West Virginia's power comes from solar?
›Where does West Virginia get most of its electricity?
›Does West Virginia still burn coal for electricity?
›Is West 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 June 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.