North Carolina Energy Facts

North Carolina’s first electric lights sizzled to life in 1881. Arc lamps ran off a rotor inside a magnetic field. It was a cotton mill in Salem, NC. Almost 140 years later:

• In 2019, North Carolina ranked second after California in both the amount of total installed solar power generating capacity at almost 4,700 megawatts and actual solar generation.
• North Carolina has 112 public and private fueling stations that supply diesel fuel blended with at least 20% biodiesel. About one-seventh of the nation’s total biodiesel fueling stations are in North Carolina.
• North Carolina was sixth among the states in electricity net generation from nuclear power in 2019, producing about 5% of the nation’s total. Nuclear power recaptured the top spot in 2019 as the largest source of North Carolina’s electricity generation, surpassing natural gas to provide about 32% of in-state electricity.
• North Carolina ranks among the 10 states with the lowest per capita petroleum use, but its total annual expenditures for motor gasoline is among the top 10 states.
• In 2018, North Carolina ranked fourth among the states in the amount of electricity consumed by its residential sector and 12th in per capita residential sector electricity consumption.

Energy Consumers of the Carolinas devotes this space to issues in North Carolina: Observations, questions, and viewpoints from people across a spectrum of energy and consumer interests.