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 Maine?

59,234homes in Maine heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 16 Maine counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 10% of the 589,085 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 32 of 35 by count, 30 by share. Cumberland County holds the most: 17,005 electric-heated homes at 7,343 heating degree days.

Where Maine 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. Maine is outlined.

Maine: cold counties and electric heat

Maine cold counties, electric heating
Cumberland County130,00313.117,0057,343-5%28.7
York County90,2509.38,4377,127-3%14.2
Penobscot County64,76911.27,2758,301-5%12.3
Kennebec County53,9368.64,6427,648-6%7.8
Androscoggin County46,6327.63,5317,583-6%6.0
Aroostook County29,68410.33,0439,469-5%5.1
Hancock County24,99211.12,7647,640-5%4.7
Somerset County22,7378.51,9419,139-5%3.3
Knox County17,9799.71,7417,484-5%2.9
Oxford County23,6947.21,6968,451-5%2.9
Waldo County17,4769.51,6637,727-5%2.8
Sagadahoc County16,1759.31,4977,297-6%2.5
Lincoln County16,2018.01,2927,393-6%2.2
Franklin County12,4579.21,1459,153-5%1.9
Washington County13,9896.69217,823-6%1.6
Piscataquis County8,1117.96419,211-5%1.1

16 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Cumberland County, York County, Penobscot County, hold 55% of the 59,234 electric-heated homes in Maine cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Cumberland County at 13%. The coldest, Aroostook County, averages 9,469 heating degree days; Maine as a whole averages 7,787 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Maine cold counties, 12 largest

  • Cumberland County17,005
  • York County8,437
  • Penobscot County7,275
  • Kennebec County4,642
  • Androscoggin County3,531
  • Aroostook County3,043
  • Hancock County2,764
  • Somerset County1,941
  • Knox County1,741
  • Oxford County1,696
  • Waldo County1,663
  • Sagadahoc County1,497

Maine: the 10 coldest counties

Aroostook County is coldest at 9,469 heating degree days with 10% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 25,731 electric-heated homes.

Maine 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Aroostook County29,68410.39,4699,026
Piscataquis County8,1117.99,2118,758
Franklin County12,4579.29,1538,731
Somerset County22,7378.59,1398,716
Oxford County23,6947.28,4518,008
Penobscot County64,76911.28,3017,857
Washington County13,9896.67,8237,392
Waldo County17,4769.57,7277,303
Kennebec County53,9368.67,6487,185
Hancock County24,99211.17,6407,235

Maine: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Cumberland County is highest at 13% and Kennebec County is 10th at 9%.

Maine 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Cumberland County130,00313.17,3437,007
Penobscot County64,76911.28,3017,857
Hancock County24,99211.17,6407,235
Aroostook County29,68410.39,4699,026
Knox County17,9799.77,4847,098
Waldo County17,4769.57,7277,303
Sagadahoc County16,1759.37,2976,882
York County90,2509.37,1276,885
Franklin County12,4579.29,1538,731
Kennebec County53,9368.67,6487,185

Winter disconnections and price in Maine

Maine utilities logged 0.00 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.74 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 27.78 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 278 dollars in Maine.

Maine in the ranking

New Mexico is 30th with 108,308 homes (13.1% of its homes). Nevada is 31st with 102,403 homes (8.7% of its homes). New Hampshire is 33rd with 59,157 homes (10.7% of its homes). Wyoming is 34th with 55,528 homes (23.3% of its homes).

Maine beside 1 neighbor

Maine neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
New Hampshire59,15710.7%7,170

Look up your Maine county

  • Pick your Maine county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Maine homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

59,234 homes, 10.1% of 589,085 occupied Maine homes, in 16 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

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

Cumberland County, with 17,005 of its 130,003 homes (13%) at 7,343 normal heating degree days.

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

Aroostook County, at 9,469 normal heating degree days: 3,043 of 29,684 homes (10%).

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

Maine cold counties averaged 5.1% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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59,234 homes in Maine 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). Maine winter exposure: 59,234 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/maine.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Maine winter exposure: 59,234 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/maine.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Maine winter exposure: 59,234 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/maine.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_maine,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Maine winter exposure: 59,234 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/maine.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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