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 North Carolina?

235,396homes in North Carolina heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

19 of 100 North Carolina counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 62% of their 382,076 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. That is 5.6% of all 4,186,924 North Carolina homes. Rank 25 of 35 by count, 33 by share. Buncombe County holds the most: 66,037 electric-heated homes at 4,566 heating degree days.

Where North Carolina 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. North Carolina is outlined.

North Carolina: cold counties and electric heat

North Carolina cold counties, electric heating
Buncombe County102,67264.366,0374,566-7%28.1
Henderson County50,42360.030,2364,175-5%12.8
Surry County29,36672.421,2584,003-7%9.0
Wilkes County26,97572.219,4754,010-9%8.3
Haywood County26,77260.416,1595,338-6%6.9
Jackson County18,16466.612,1054,933-7%5.1
Macon County18,09064.911,7424,619-8%5.0
Watauga County21,18754.211,4905,428-7%4.9
Transylvania County14,59063.19,2054,487-8%3.9
Cherokee County13,04268.88,9784,074-6%3.8
Ashe County11,99946.95,6335,483-7%2.4
Madison County8,39945.83,8444,477-8%1.6
Swain County5,83763.73,7175,036-5%1.6
Clay County5,04158.82,9654,338-8%1.3
Yancey County8,18834.22,8015,280-6%1.2
Avery County6,55941.52,7205,627-6%1.2
Mitchell County6,41137.52,4015,220-5%1.0
Alleghany County5,04946.82,3615,144-8%1.0
Graham County3,31268.52,2694,554-6%1.0

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

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Buncombe County, Henderson County, Surry County, hold 50% of the 235,396 electric-heated homes in North Carolina cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Surry County at 72%. In the 81 milder North Carolina counties the share is 65%, against 62% in the cold ones. The coldest, Avery County, averages 5,627 heating degree days; North Carolina as a whole averages 3,365 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, North Carolina cold counties, 12 largest

  • Buncombe County66,037
  • Henderson County30,236
  • Surry County21,258
  • Wilkes County19,475
  • Haywood County16,159
  • Jackson County12,105
  • Macon County11,742
  • Watauga County11,490
  • Transylvania County9,205
  • Cherokee County8,978
  • Ashe County5,633
  • Madison County3,844

North Carolina: the 10 coldest counties

Avery County is coldest at 5,627 heating degree days with 42% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 71,129 electric-heated homes.

North Carolina 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Avery County6,55941.55,6275,284
Ashe County11,99946.95,4835,124
Watauga County21,18754.25,4285,067
Haywood County26,77260.45,3385,025
Yancey County8,18834.25,2804,961
Mitchell County6,41137.55,2204,939
Alleghany County5,04946.85,1444,724
Swain County5,83763.75,0364,765
Jackson County18,16466.64,9334,583
Macon County18,09064.94,6194,238

North Carolina: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Dare County is highest at 93% and Wayne County is 10th at 82%.

North Carolina 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Dare County16,48393.22,7852,595
Onslow County72,51691.72,6552,411
Pender County24,15289.52,6432,380
New Hanover County102,37688.32,4692,205
Carteret County31,19887.12,4412,286
Brunswick County64,43687.02,4602,232
Currituck County11,49785.43,1382,852
Hoke County18,76384.92,9322,586
Harnett County48,63982.53,0432,755
Wayne County46,88881.82,9602,742

Winter disconnections and price in North Carolina

North Carolina utilities logged 0.61 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.69 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 14.02 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 140 dollars in North Carolina.

North Carolina in the ranking

Nebraska is 23rd with 245,560 homes (31.2% of its homes). Idaho is 24th with 243,011 homes (35.0% of its homes). Utah is 26th with 180,092 homes (16.4% of its homes). North Dakota is 27th with 129,646 homes (39.9% of its homes).

North Carolina beside 2 neighbors

North Carolina neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Tennessee274,0949.9%3,678
Virginia1,069,49532.2%4,084

Look up your North Carolina county

  • Pick your North Carolina county.

More

Sources

Files, dates and checksums

Questions

How many North Carolina homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

235,396 homes, 5.6% of 4,186,924 occupied North Carolina homes, in 19 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

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

Buncombe County, with 66,037 of its 102,672 homes (64%) at 4,566 normal heating degree days.

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

Avery County, at 5,627 normal heating degree days: 2,720 of 6,559 homes (42%).

How far did the last decade run from the North Carolina normal?

North Carolina cold counties averaged 6.8% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

Share this page

235,396 homes in North Carolina 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). North Carolina winter exposure: 235,396 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/north-carolina.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “North Carolina winter exposure: 235,396 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/north-carolina.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “North Carolina winter exposure: 235,396 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/north-carolina.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_north_carolina,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {North Carolina winter exposure: 235,396 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/north-carolina.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
Embed this chart or number

Free to use. No tracking, no scripts. Each embed links back to this site.

Charts on this page (SVG)

Copies a self-contained SVG with the source and a link to this page inside the image.