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Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: May 19, 2016
Overview
Alabama's energy use per capita is high because of demand from the state's manufacturing base.
Alabama is located on the Gulf of Mexico, where warm Gulf waters provide the abundant moisture that creates the humidity found throughout the state during most of the year. Two-thirds of the state consists of coastal plain. In its northeast, Alabama rises to include the southwestern limits of the Appalachian Mountains. Although the climate is subtropical, cold air brings snow to the higher elevations in the north in most years.1,2 Alabama is rich in energy resources with sizeable deposits of coal, as well as some crude oil and natural gas reserves, including coalbed methane.3,4,5 The state also has renewable resources. Alabama's many rivers flow generally southwest from the Appalachian highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico.6 Several dams along those rivers provide hydroelectric power.7 Forests cover more than two-thirds of Alabama, the third-largest amount of timberland acreage among the Lower 48 states, giving the state an ample biomass resource.8
Alabama ranks among the top one-fourth of all states in energy consumption per person.9 The state is well above the national median in total energy consumption because of high demand from Alabama's industrial sector, which consumes more energy than the state's transportation sector and residential sector combined.10 The automotive, chemical, metals manufacturing, technology, forestry, and aeronautical industries are major contributors to Alabama's economy, as are mining and food production.11,12 Despite high energy use for cooling during the hot, humid summers and the widespread use of electricity for home heating, the residential sector and the commercial sector together account for only about one-third of the state's end-use energy consumption. The transportation sector uses about one-fourth of the energy delivered to end users in Alabama, and the industrial sector accounts for more than two-fifths of end-use consumption.13 However, together the Alabama end-use sectors account for only three-fifths of the total energy used in the state, and electric power generation consumes the rest.14,15
Petroleum
Oil was discovered in western Alabama in the mid-1940s. Today, a small amount of crude oil is produced annually from fields in the northwestern part of the state and on Alabama's Gulf Coast in the southwestern part of the state.16,17 Proved crude oil reserves had remained fairly constant over the past 25 years at about 50 million barrels, but, in 2014, they increased to 66 million barrels, a level not seen since the mid-1980s.18 Annual crude oil production has increased slightly in the past three years for the first time since a significant drop-off began in the mid-1990s, but it is still only about half of what it was in 1995.19
Alabama's three oil refineries can process about 120,100 barrels of crude oil per day.
Alabama has three petroleum refineries. One refinery, the largest in the state, is located near the Port of Mobile. Another refinery is in Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior River, and the third and smallest refinery is in Atmore. The refineries have a combined capacity of about 120,100 barrels of crude oil per calendar day.20 Their products include feedstocks for chemical plants, specialty products, transportation fuels, and asphalt. The state's refined petroleum products are delivered to local and regional markets.21,22,23 Alabama receives additional refined products from Texas and Louisiana via two major interstate petroleum product pipelines.24,25
The majority of the petroleum used in Alabama is consumed as transportation fuels, particularly motor gasoline.26 Reformulated gasoline is not required in Alabama and conventional gasoline can be used year round.27 Counties in the Birmingham area were required to use gasoline with a reduced volatility during the summer months, but those restrictions have been relaxed.28 About 0.2% of Alabama homes heat with fuel oil or kerosene, and 1 in 14 Alabama households heat with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).29
Natural gas
Alabama produces natural gas both onshore and offshore in state waters. The state's annual natural gas production has steadily declined from its peak in 1996, and Alabama currently contributes less than 1% of the nation's total natural gas production.30,31 Three-fifths of Alabama's natural gas production comes from onshore wells, and more than two-thirds of that production comes from coalbed methane—a natural gas derived from coal seams. Alabama's coalbed methane wells are located primarily in the Black Warrior Basin.32,33 Overall, Alabama's proved reserves of natural gas have fallen to about one-third of their 1992 peak of 5.8 trillion cubic feet.34
An increasing amount of the natural gas delivered to customers in Alabama is going to the electric power sector, and, since 2007, that sector has been the largest natural gas-consuming sector in the state.35,36 The industrial sector consumes the second-largest amount. Although about 3 out of every 10 households use natural gas for heating, the residential sector typically uses about 6% of the natural gas delivered to customers, primarily because of the state's mild winters.37,38
Coal
Mobile, Alabama, is one of the largest U.S. coal ports, handling both imports and exports.
Coal has been mined commercially in Alabama for more than 150 years, and the state ranks 14th in total coal production and 10th in bituminous coal production among the states.39,40 Alabama produces large amounts of high-quality bituminous coal in the northern part of the state from both surface and underground mines.41 In 2014, two-thirds of the coal produced in Alabama was exported.42 Mobile, Alabama, is the nation's third-largest seaport for exporting U.S. coal, most of which is bound for Europe and South and Central America.43,44,45 In 2015, Mobile also was second only to Tampa, Florida, in coal imports.46 More than half the coal mined in Alabama for domestic sale is delivered by barge, railroad, and truck to electric power plants in the state. Coal is also delivered to industrial facilities and coke plants in Alabama. Minor amounts are delivered to nearby states.47
Only one-fourth of the domestically produced coal used in Alabama is mined in the state. Wyoming supplies about half of the U.S. coal consumed in Alabama, and all of that coal is delivered to electric power plants, the largest coal consumers in the state. Another one-fourth of domestic coal comes by railroad, river barge, and truck from several other states for use in power plants and industrial facilities in Alabama. Coke plants in the state get their coal from West Virginia and Alabama.48 Imported coal, primarily from Latin America, is also used in Alabama.49
Electricity
The Browns Ferry plant has the second-largest nuclear electric generating capacity in the nation.
Alabama is sixth among the states in electricity generation. Coal has typically fueled the largest share of electric power generation in the state, but, because of market fluctuations and increased supply, natural gas has provided a larger share in recent years, exceeding coal-fired generation in 2012, 2014, and 2015. Alabama is one of the largest generators of electricity from nuclear power in the nation. Its two nuclear power plants, with a total of five reactors, typically produce about one-fourth of the electricity generated in Alabama.50,51 The three reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Limestone County have a combined generating capacity of 3,309 megawatts, second only to Arizona's Palo Verde plant in generating capacity among nuclear power plants in the United States.52
Alabama is one of the largest hydroelectric power producers east of the Rocky Mountains, second only to New York.53 Two dozen hydroelectric dams, located along several of the state's many rivers, typically supply about 6% of the state's net electricity generation.54,55 Alabama also ranks among the top five states for electricity generation from biomass, much it from wood and wood waste from the state's substantial forest products industry.56,57
The largest share of retail electricity sales in Alabama is delivered to the industrial sector, followed closely by the residential sector.58 Average monthly consumption of electricity in Alabama's residential sector is among the highest in the nation because of high demand for air conditioning during the hot summer months and the widespread use of electricity for home heating during the winter months.59 Three out of five Alabama households heat with electricity.60 Power production in Alabama exceeds the state's consumption, and large amounts of electricity are delivered to neighboring states over several high-voltage interstate transmission lines.61,62
Renewable energy
Alabama's hydroelectric facilities provide three-fourths of the state's renewable electricity generation.63 The rest of the state's utility-scale renewable generation comes from biomass, most of which is generated at industrial facilities.64 Additionally, Alabama has five commercial biomass pellet plants with a combined annual production capacity of 837,000 short tons, almost 7% of the nation's total productive capacity at existing pellet plants. A sixth plant, with a capacity of 485,000 tons per year, has been proposed.65 Alabama does not have any ethanol plants, but the state does have three facilities that produce biodiesel from multiple feedstocks.66 Although there are no significant wind resources in Alabama, there are a few areas along its short coastline and along the spine of the mountains in northern Alabama where the wind resource is modest. The state has no utility-scale wind generation.67,68
There is little commercial electricity generation from solar power in Alabama.69 However, the U.S. Army, in collaboration with the General Services Administration and Alabama Power, the state's largest electric utility, is developing large-scale solar projects at three of its military installations in the state.70 The state's other major electricity provider, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), operates two solar facilities in Alabama, one at a botanical garden and one at a wastewater treatment plant.71 TVA has agreed to purchase power from a planned new 80-megawatt solar farm to be built in 2016 near Florence, Alabama.72
Alabama does not have a renewable portfolio standard. The state has adopted a mandatory building energy code for commercial and residential buildings and energy standards for state agencies.73 TVA offers homeowners and businesses financial incentives to install renewable energy generation. Participating customers receive credit on their utility bills for power sold back to the electric grid.74
Endnotes
1 University of Alabama, Department of Geography, Physiographic Regions, accessed April 22, 2016.
2 Christy, John, "Alabama's Climate, It's the Humidity!" Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, State Climate Series, accessed April 20, 2016.
3 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report 2014 (March 2016), Table 14, Recoverable Coal Reserves and Average Recovery Percentage at Producing Mines by State, 2014 and 2013.
4 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Profile Data, Reserves and Supply, accessed April 22, 2016.
5 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Coalbed Methane, Proved Reserves as of December 31, 2014, accessed April 22, 2016.
6 Geology.com, Alabama Lakes, Rivers and Water Resources, accessed April 22, 2016.
7 Alabama Power, Our Lakes and Dams, accessed April 22, 2016.
8 Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Forest Facts, accessed April 22, 2016.
9 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table C13, Energy Consumption per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2013.
10 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table C10, Energy Consumption by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2013.
11 Alabama Department of Commerce, Made in Alabama, Industries, accessed April 23, 2016.
12 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Interactive Data, GDP and Personal Income, Regional Data, Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State, GDP in current dollars, All industries, Alabama, 2013.
13 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table C10, Energy Consumption by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2013.
14 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table CT8, Electric Power Sector Consumption Estimates, Selected Years, 1960-2013, Alabama.
15 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table CT3. Total End-Use Energy Consumption Estimates, Selected Years, 1960-2013, Alabama.
16 Hall, Douglas R., and David E. Bolin, The Petroleum Industry in Alabama, 1999-2007, Oil and Gas Report 3U, Geological Survey of Alabama (2009), p. 1, 2.
17 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Crude Oil Production, Annual Thousand Barrels, accessed April 23, 2016.
18 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Crude Oil Proved Reserves, accessed April 23, 2016.
19 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Field Production of Crude Oil, accessed April 23, 2016.
20 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Refinery Capacity Report 2015, Table 3, Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by State as of January 1, 2015.
21 Shell United States, Mobile, AL, accessed April 23, 2016.
22 Goodway Refining, LLC, accessed April 23, 2016.
23 Hunt Refining Company, Refining Operations, Tuscaloosa Refinery, accessed April 23, 2016.
24 Colonial Pipeline Company, System Map, accessed April 23, 2016.
25 Kinder Morgan, Plantation Pipe Line Company (PPL), accessed April 23, 2016.
26 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Consumption Estimates 1960 through 2013, DOE/EIA-0214(2013) (July 2015), Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Major Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2013.
27 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Reformulated Gasoline, accessed April 23, 2016.
28 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure, accessed April 23, 2016.
29 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate.
30 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals, accessed April 23, 2016.
31 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, accessed April 23, 2016.
32 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals from Coalbed Wells, Annual, accessed April 23, 2016.
33 Geological Survey of Alabama, State Oil and Gas Board, Coal Systems, Coalbed Methane, accessed April 23, 2016.
34 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Dry Natural Gas Expected Future Production, accessed April 23, 2016.
35 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Customers, 1997-2015, accessed April 23, 2016.
36 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Natural Gas Industrial Consumption, 1997-2015, accessed April 23, 2016.
37 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Alabama, 2007-2015, accessed April 23, 2016.
38 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate.
39 Geological Survey of Alabama, State Oil and Gas Board, Coal Systems, accessed April 23, 2016.
40 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report 2014 (March 2016), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Coal Rank, 2014.
41 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report 2014 (March 2016), Table 2, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State, County, and Mine Type, 2014.
42 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Distribution Report, 2014 (April 2016), Domestic and Foreign Distribution of U.S. Coal by State of Origin, 2014.
43 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Quarterly Coal Report (Abbreviated), October-December 2015 (April 2016) Table 13, U.S. Coal Exports by Customs District.
44 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Exports, Historical, U.S. Coal Exports by Year, Quarter, and Customs District, 2002-2015, accessed April 25, 2016.
45 U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Europe and Asia are the leading destinations for U.S. exports in 2012," Today in Energy (November 15, 2012).
46 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Quarterly Coal Report (Abbreviated), October-December 2015 (April 2016), Table 20, Coal Imports by Customs District.
47 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2014 (April 2016), Alabama, Table OS-1, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Origin State, 2014.
48 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2014 (April 2016), Alabama, Table DS-1, Domestic Coal Distribution, by Destination State, 2014.
49 Deyette, Jeff, and Barbara Freese, Burning Coal, Burning Cash, Union of Concerned Scientists (May 2010), p. 22.
50 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), Tables 1.6.B, 1.7.B, 1.10B, 1.12.B; (February 2016), Tables 1.3.B, 1.4.B, 1.7.B, 1.9.B.
51 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Nuclear Profile 2010, accessed April 25, 2016.
52 U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Nuclear Profiles (April 2012), p. 1, 5.
53 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Table 1.10.B.
54 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Form EIA-860 Detailed Data 2014, accessed April 25, 2016.
55 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), Tables 1.6.B, 1.13.B; (February 2016), Tables 1.3.B, 1.10.B.
56 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Table 1.15.B.
57 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Profile Overview, Map Layers, Biomass Power Plant, accessed April 25, 2016.
58 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Table 5.4.B.
59 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price, 2014 Average Monthly Bill=Residential, accessed April 25, 2016.
60 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate.
61 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Electricity Profile 2014, Table 10, Supply and disposition of electricity, 1990 through 2014.
62 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Alabama Profile Overview, Map Layers, Electric Transmission Line , accessed April 25, 2016.
63 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Tables 1.10.B, 1.11.B.
64 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Table 1.15.B.
65 "Pellet Plants," Biomass Magazine (April 21, 2016).
66 "USA Plants," Biodiesel Magazine (December 8, 2015).
67 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Alabama Wind Resource Map and Potential Wind Capacity, accessed April 26, 2016.
68 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly (February 2016), Table 1.14.B.
69 Solar Energy Industries Association, State Solar Policy, Alabama Solar, accessed April 26, 2016.
70 U.S. Army, Fort Rucker Large-Scale Renewable Energy Solar Project (April 2016).
71 Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA in Alabama, accessed April 26, 2016.
72 Tennessee Valley Authority, River Bend Solar Project, accessed April 26, 2016.
73 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Alabama Programs, accessed April 26, 2016.
74 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, TVA Green Power Providers (June 2, 2015).