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 Virginia?

1,069,495homes in Virginia heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

81 of 132 Virginia counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 54% of their 1,974,390 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. That is 32.2% of all 3,324,199 Virginia homes. Rank 5 of 35 by count, 10 by share. Fairfax County holds the most: 171,914 electric-heated homes at 4,365 heating degree days.

Where Virginia 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. Virginia is outlined.

Virginia: cold counties and electric heat

Virginia cold counties, electric heating
Fairfax County412,66341.7171,9144,365-8%16.1
Prince William County154,60940.762,9584,345-9%5.9
Arlington County111,53050.656,3984,289-8%5.3
Loudoun County140,82331.744,6184,720-8%4.2
Alexandria city75,34949.437,2134,181-8%3.5
Albemarle County45,06466.429,9374,286-9%2.8
Spotsylvania County51,28957.629,5594,295-7%2.8
Stafford County51,30955.528,4944,237-9%2.7
Montgomery County36,73175.527,7294,817-7%2.6
Bedford County32,69882.226,8844,235-7%2.5
Lynchburg city28,68775.521,6464,216-9%2.0
Roanoke city43,42948.721,1554,105-6%2.0
Rockingham County32,04864.820,7835,069-9%1.9
Roanoke County39,23148.018,8424,433-6%1.8
Campbell County22,08083.018,3264,200-10%1.7
Washington County22,11881.217,9504,608-7%1.7
Franklin County22,48477.517,4224,187-6%1.6
Frederick County34,33850.117,1905,047-6%1.6
Pittsylvania County24,63368.516,8754,013-7%1.6
Augusta County30,64451.615,8055,018-8%1.5

Largest 20 of 81 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. The 61 smaller cold counties are in the CSV. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Arlington County, hold 27% of the 1,069,495 electric-heated homes in Virginia cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Buchanan County at 90%. In the 51 milder Virginia counties the share is 62%, against 54% in the cold ones. The coldest, Highland County, averages 5,973 heating degree days; Virginia as a whole averages 4,084 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, Virginia cold counties, 12 largest

  • Fairfax County171,914
  • Prince William County62,958
  • Arlington County56,398
  • Loudoun County44,618
  • Alexandria city37,213
  • Albemarle County29,937
  • Spotsylvania County29,559
  • Stafford County28,494
  • Montgomery County27,729
  • Bedford County26,884
  • Lynchburg city21,646
  • Roanoke city21,155

Virginia: the 10 coldest counties

Highland County is coldest at 5,973 heating degree days with 39% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 66,498 electric-heated homes.

Virginia 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Highland County1,00339.05,9735,694
Grayson County6,20251.75,4845,125
Tazewell County15,95180.05,2875,006
Bland County2,34574.25,2715,058
Bath County1,78156.75,2054,968
Smyth County12,53070.15,1754,845
Floyd County6,64963.55,1474,868
Giles County6,76977.65,1244,837
Wythe County12,39667.35,0784,781
Rockingham County32,04864.85,0694,633

Virginia: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Buchanan County is highest at 90% and Gloucester County is 10th at 82%.

Virginia 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Buchanan County7,35189.84,6824,367
Russell County10,47089.14,7704,444
Wise County14,05588.44,9174,655
Scott County8,95188.24,3594,068
King William County7,11587.43,8093,608
Amherst County12,70285.64,4174,081
Dickenson County5,71784.94,6984,395
Franklin city3,38883.33,4633,174
Campbell County22,08083.04,2003,792
Gloucester County15,11182.33,5583,339

Winter disconnections and price in Virginia

Virginia utilities logged 0.72 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.85 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 15.28 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 153 dollars in Virginia.

Virginia in the ranking

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). Maryland is 6th with 996,863 homes (42.6% of its homes). Missouri is 7th with 919,771 homes (37.0% of its homes).

Virginia beside 5 neighbors

Virginia neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Kentucky886,22349.5%4,435
Maryland996,86342.6%4,529
North Carolina235,3965.6%3,365
Tennessee274,0949.9%3,678
West Virginia328,48345.5%5,043

Look up your Virginia county

  • Pick your Virginia county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many Virginia homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

1,069,495 homes, 32.2% of 3,324,199 occupied Virginia homes, in 81 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

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

Fairfax County, with 171,914 of its 412,663 homes (42%) at 4,365 normal heating degree days.

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

Highland County, at 5,973 normal heating degree days: 391 of 1,003 homes (39%).

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

Virginia cold counties averaged 7.0% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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1,069,495 homes in Virginia 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). Virginia winter exposure: 1,069,495 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/virginia.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “Virginia winter exposure: 1,069,495 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/virginia.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “Virginia winter exposure: 1,069,495 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/virginia.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_virginia,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {Virginia winter exposure: 1,069,495 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/virginia.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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