Which state makes the most coal power?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states make the most electricity from coal in a year? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… West Virginia — coal country!
Answer
The real order is…
Giant Texas makes the most — but look at #2 and #3: little Kentucky and West Virginia, the Appalachian coal states, punching way above their size!
📚 Background Giant Texas makes the most coal power too — it produces enormous amounts of electricity of many kinds. The real story is #2 and #3: Kentucky and West Virginia, two small Appalachian states sitting right on top of America's famous coal country. (U.S. EIA, electricity data) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: ⚛️『The fuel in an American reactor mostly comes from somewhere else』→ I bet… West Virginia — coal country!
Compare
Coal power generated (billion kWh, by state, 2024)
Highest: Texas (65.5 billion kWh); lowest shown here: South Dakota (1.6 billion kWh).
Note: net electricity from coal, in billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) — 2024, U.S. EIA. Only the states that generate a meaningful amount of coal power are shown.
Geography is destiny!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Texas is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 36)
| Rank | State | Value |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Texas | 65.5 billion kWh |
| #2 | Kentucky | 44.8 billion kWh |
| #3 | West Virginia | 43.1 billion kWh |
| #4 | Indiana | 40.5 billion kWh |
| #5 | Missouri | 38.8 billion kWh |
| #6 | Ohio | 30.1 billion kWh |
| #7 | Illinois | 27 billion kWh |
| #8 | Michigan | 25.7 billion kWh |
| #9 | Wyoming | 24.4 billion kWh |
| #10 | North Dakota | 23.2 billion kWh |
| #11 | Alabama | 20.9 billion kWh |
| #12 | Wisconsin | 20.8 billion kWh |
| #13 | Georgia | 17.8 billion kWh |
| #14 | Tennessee | 17.4 billion kWh |
| #15 | North Carolina | 17.1 billion kWh |
| #16 | South Carolina | 16.8 billion kWh |
| #17 | Colorado | 16.5 billion kWh |
| #18 | Nebraska | 16.4 billion kWh |
| #19 | Utah | 16 billion kWh |
| #20 | Arkansas | 15.7 billion kWh |
| #21 | Iowa | 14.5 billion kWh |
| #22 | Kansas | 13.1 billion kWh |
| #23 | Pennsylvania | 13 billion kWh |
| #24 | Minnesota | 11.4 billion kWh |
| #25 | Arizona | 9.8 billion kWh |
| #25 | Montana | 9.8 billion kWh |
| #27 | New Mexico | 8.4 billion kWh |
| #28 | Florida | 7.8 billion kWh |
| #29 | Oklahoma | 6.1 billion kWh |
| #30 | Louisiana | 3.7 billion kWh |
| #31 | Mississippi | 3.3 billion kWh |
| #32 | Washington | 2.8 billion kWh |
| #33 | Maryland | 2.5 billion kWh |
| #34 | Nevada | 2.3 billion kWh |
| #35 | Virginia | 2 billion kWh |
| #36 | South Dakota | 1.6 billion kWh |
Only the states that generate a meaningful amount of coal power are shown.
Figures are published for 41 states; this table shows the top 36.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (2024)
Sources
Data as of: 2024
U.S. EIA: net generation from coal by state, 2024 (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-26) — Official published values (the committed raw file holds EIA's megawatt-hour value for every generating state; the display converts to billion kWh).
↳ On eia.gov/electricity/data/state, open 'Annual generation by state and energy source', filter YEAR 2024, TYPE OF PRODUCER 'Total Electric Power Industry', ENERGY SOURCE 'Coal'.