Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in Kentucky?

886,223homes in Kentucky heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

107 of 120 Kentucky counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 54% of their 1,626,800 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. That is 49.5% of all 1,791,991 Kentucky homes. Rank 10 of 35 by count, 3 by share. Jefferson County holds the most: 125,075 electric-heated homes at 4,400 heating degree days.

Where Kentucky sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. Kentucky is outlined.

Kentucky: cold counties and electric heat

Kentucky cold counties, electric heating
Jefferson County329,39238.0125,0754,400-7%14.1
Fayette County137,80357.278,8594,641-8%8.9
Hardin County43,48570.630,6934,418-7%3.5
Madison County36,72280.729,6424,468-7%3.3
Kenton County67,59341.227,8274,859-7%3.1
Boone County50,34148.024,1804,864-7%2.7
Pulaski County25,92082.321,3374,404-9%2.4
Laurel County23,83581.219,3604,437-8%2.2
Pike County24,44978.719,2364,322-7%2.2
Campbell County39,23242.716,7464,804-6%1.9
Scott County22,11971.115,7354,690-8%1.8
Bullitt County31,42547.114,7984,363-7%1.7
Nelson County18,78773.113,7424,401-7%1.6
Daviess County41,15732.113,2084,269-4%1.5
Jessamine County19,64561.812,1384,542-8%1.4
Franklin County22,54853.111,9624,590-9%1.3
McCracken County27,28742.211,5034,019-8%1.3
Oldham County22,45745.310,1634,625-7%1.1
Barren County17,97254.69,8124,056-7%1.1
Henderson County18,45852.09,5974,312-5%1.1

Largest 20 of 107 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 87 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Jefferson County, Fayette County, Hardin County, hold 26% of the 886,223 electric-heated homes in Kentucky cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Russell County at 88%. In the 13 milder Kentucky counties the share is 53%, against 54% in the cold ones. The coldest, Boone County, averages 4,864 heating degree days; Kentucky as a whole averages 4,435 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Kentucky cold counties, 12 largest

  • Jefferson County125,075
  • Fayette County78,859
  • Hardin County30,693
  • Madison County29,642
  • Kenton County27,827
  • Boone County24,180
  • Pulaski County21,337
  • Laurel County19,360
  • Pike County19,236
  • Campbell County16,746
  • Scott County15,735
  • Bullitt County14,798

Kentucky: the 10 coldest counties

Boone County is coldest at 4,864 heating degree days with 48% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 94,107 electric-heated homes.

Kentucky 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Boone County50,34148.04,8644,507
Kenton County67,59341.24,8594,525
Mason County6,92755.34,8474,623
Bracken County3,26358.94,8184,563
Campbell County39,23242.74,8044,494
Lewis County4,90549.74,8044,593
Robertson County79160.34,7704,514
Grant County9,23557.24,7654,405
Harlan County10,50085.24,7604,478
Pendleton County5,33346.14,7474,444

Kentucky: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Russell County is highest at 88% and Rockcastle County is 10th at 78%.

Kentucky 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Russell County7,21087.74,2833,864
Harlan County10,50085.24,7604,478
Edmonson County4,95583.14,1003,759
Wayne County8,02882.74,2883,886
Pulaski County25,92082.34,4044,012
Laurel County23,83581.24,4374,072
Madison County36,72280.74,4684,151
Pike County24,44978.74,3224,019
Clinton County3,76277.84,1633,744
Rockcastle County6,42877.84,5334,187

Winter disconnections and price in Kentucky

Kentucky utilities logged 0.57 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.44 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 13.24 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 132 dollars in Kentucky.

Kentucky in the ranking

Illinois is 8th with 910,214 homes (18.2% of its homes). Oregon is 9th with 904,332 homes (53.1% of its homes). Indiana is 11th with 824,332 homes (30.7% of its homes). Colorado is 12th with 586,733 homes (25.2% of its homes).

Kentucky beside 7 neighbors

Kentucky neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Illinois910,21418.2%6,044
Indiana824,33230.7%5,625
Missouri919,77137.0%4,743
Ohio1,235,47225.6%5,624
Tennessee274,0949.9%3,678
Virginia1,069,49532.2%4,084
West Virginia328,48345.5%5,043

Look up your Kentucky county

  • Pick your Kentucky county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Kentucky homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

886,223 homes, 49.5% of 1,791,991 occupied Kentucky homes, in 107 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which Kentucky county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Jefferson County, with 125,075 of its 329,392 homes (38%) at 4,400 normal heating degree days.

Which Kentucky county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Boone County, at 4,864 normal heating degree days: 24,180 of 50,341 homes (48%).

How far did the last decade run from the Kentucky normal?

Kentucky cold counties averaged 6.9% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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886,223 homes in Kentucky heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

Cite this page

Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). Kentucky winter exposure: 886,223 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/kentucky.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Kentucky winter exposure: 886,223 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/kentucky.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Kentucky winter exposure: 886,223 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/kentucky.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_kentucky,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Kentucky winter exposure: 886,223 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/kentucky.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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