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 Pennsylvania?

1,297,991homes in Pennsylvania heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

All 67 Pennsylvania counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 25% of the 5,235,339 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. Rank 2 of 35 by count, 17 by share. Philadelphia County holds the most: 163,218 electric-heated homes at 4,661 heating degree days.

Where Pennsylvania 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. Pennsylvania is outlined.

Pennsylvania: cold counties and electric heat

Pennsylvania cold counties, electric heating
Philadelphia County669,22224.4163,2184,661-7%12.6
Montgomery County333,51426.889,3175,056-6%6.9
Allegheny County546,50715.886,5555,525-6%6.7
Bucks County247,67430.575,6315,223-6%5.8
Lancaster County210,53635.173,9995,211-6%5.7
Chester County202,40530.561,6625,118-5%4.8
Lehigh County143,44540.658,2185,563-7%4.5
Delaware County216,66021.646,8404,734-6%3.6
Dauphin County119,76337.344,6945,546-7%3.4
York County180,20723.141,6165,257-7%3.2
Cumberland County105,18736.738,6525,332-5%3.0
Northampton County121,49631.037,6805,735-6%2.9
Berks County161,70122.636,5355,431-6%2.8
Franklin County63,02850.932,0845,340-5%2.5
Luzerne County133,43423.731,6756,606-5%2.4
Monroe County60,56246.328,0326,579-4%2.2
Centre County59,00643.725,7906,333-5%2.0
Westmoreland County154,38516.625,6855,776-6%2.0
Washington County87,66520.317,7535,575-6%1.4
Lackawanna County88,26618.015,8736,806-6%1.2

Largest 20 of 67 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 47 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Philadelphia County, Montgomery County, Allegheny County, hold 26% of the 1,297,991 electric-heated homes in Pennsylvania cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Franklin County at 51%. The coldest, McKean County, averages 7,246 heating degree days; Pennsylvania as a whole averages 5,554 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Pennsylvania cold counties, 12 largest

  • Philadelphia County163,218
  • Montgomery County89,317
  • Allegheny County86,555
  • Bucks County75,631
  • Lancaster County73,999
  • Chester County61,662
  • Lehigh County58,218
  • Delaware County46,840
  • Dauphin County44,694
  • York County41,616
  • Cumberland County38,652
  • Northampton County37,680

Pennsylvania: the 10 coldest counties

McKean County is coldest at 7,246 heating degree days with 7% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 34,492 electric-heated homes.

Pennsylvania 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
McKean County16,2047.47,2466,674
Sullivan County2,53616.37,2406,911
Potter County6,7578.07,2026,856
Tioga County16,6397.87,1396,737
Wayne County20,31424.76,9896,636
Susquehanna County15,63917.66,9736,612
Warren County16,2718.76,9276,523
Elk County13,48114.76,9256,424
Bradford County24,48716.36,8846,503
Lackawanna County88,26618.06,8066,404

Pennsylvania: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Franklin County is highest at 51% and Cumberland County is 10th at 37%.

Pennsylvania 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Franklin County63,02850.95,3405,096
Monroe County60,56246.36,5796,309
Centre County59,00643.76,3336,046
Lehigh County143,44540.65,5635,189
Union County14,30140.16,0465,719
Montour County7,68940.06,0235,665
Pike County24,00938.26,6946,398
Fulton County6,15637.95,4885,184
Dauphin County119,76337.35,5465,173
Cumberland County105,18736.75,3325,048

Winter disconnections and price in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania utilities logged 0.03 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.52 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 19.30 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 193 dollars in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania in the ranking

Washington is 1st with 1,742,020 homes (57.7% of its homes). Ohio is 3rd with 1,235,472 homes (25.6% of its homes). New York is 4th with 1,104,384 homes (14.4% of its homes).

Pennsylvania beside 5 neighbors

Pennsylvania neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Maryland996,86342.6%4,529
New Jersey541,30915.6%5,013
New York1,104,38414.4%5,621
Ohio1,235,47225.6%5,624
West Virginia328,48345.5%5,043

Look up your Pennsylvania county

  • Pick your Pennsylvania county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Pennsylvania homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

1,297,991 homes, 24.8% of 5,235,339 occupied Pennsylvania homes, in 67 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

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

Philadelphia County, with 163,218 of its 669,222 homes (24%) at 4,661 normal heating degree days.

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

McKean County, at 7,246 normal heating degree days: 1,194 of 16,204 homes (7%).

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

Pennsylvania cold counties averaged 5.5% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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1,297,991 homes in Pennsylvania 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). Pennsylvania winter exposure: 1,297,991 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/pennsylvania.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Pennsylvania winter exposure: 1,297,991 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/pennsylvania.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Pennsylvania winter exposure: 1,297,991 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/pennsylvania.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_pennsylvania,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Pennsylvania winter exposure: 1,297,991 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/pennsylvania.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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