Profile AnalysisPrint State Energy Profile
(overview, data, & analysis)
Last Updated: May 17, 2018
Overview
Alabama is rich in energy resources, with sizable deposits of coal, as well as some crude oil, natural gas, and coalbed methane reserves.1,2,3 Located along on the Gulf of Mexico, southern Alabama consists of a coastal plain with a humid, subtropical climate. The state's north includes the southern edge of the Appalachian Mountains.4,5 Alabama's many rivers flow from the Appalachian highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico,6 and several dams along those rivers provide hydroelectric power.7 Forests cover more than two-thirds of Alabama, the third-largest timberland acreage among the Lower 48 states, giving the state ample biomass resources.8
Alabama’s energy use per capita is high because of demand from the state’s industrial sector.
Alabama ranks among the top one-fourth of all states in energy consumption per person9 because of high demand from the state's industrial sector, which accounts for more than two-fifths of state's energy consumption.10 The aerospace and aviation, automotive, chemical, food production, forestry, metals manufacturing, and mining industries are major contributors to Alabama's economy.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 the state.13,14,15
Petroleum
Alabama's economically recoverable crude oil reserves are small—only about 0.1% of U.S. total oil reserves.16 Oil was discovered in Alabama in the mid-1940s. Today, a small amount of crude oil is produced from fields in the northwestern part of the state and on Alabama's Gulf Coast in the southwestern part of the state.17,18,19 The state's annual crude oil production increased slightly from 2011 through 2013, but in 2017 output fell below 7 million barrels for the first time in more than four decades and was only about one-third of the state's peak oil production of around 22 million barrels in the early 1980s.20
Alabama’s three oil refineries can process about 132,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Alabama has three petroleum refineries. The state's largest 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 nearly 132,000 barrels of crude oil per calendar day21 and can process a range of domestic and imported crude oils. Refined products include feedstocks for chemical plants, specialty products, gasoline, jet fuel, and asphalt for local and regional markets.22,23,24 Alabama receives additional refined products from Texas and Louisiana via two major interstate petroleum product pipelines, the Colonial and Plantation pipelines, which also move gasoline through Alabama to supply half a dozen other southern and East Coast states.25,26
The majority of the petroleum used in Alabama is consumed as transportation fuels, particularly motor gasoline.27 Reformulated gasoline is not required in Alabama, and conventional gasoline can be used year round.28,29 Counties in the Birmingham area were required to use motor gasoline with a reduced volatility during the summer months, but those restrictions were lifted in 2015.30,31 Only about 0.2% of Alabama homes heat with fuel oil or kerosene, but about 6% of households heat with propane.32
Natural gas
Alabama's proved reserves of natural gas have fallen to less than one-third of their peak estimate in 1992 and now comprise less than 1% of total U.S. economically recoverable natural gas reserves.33,34 Alabama produces natural gas both onshore and offshore in state waters, including in Mobile Bay. 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 output.35,36 Three-fifths of Alabama's natural gas production comes from onshore wells, and nearly two-thirds of that onshore production comes in the form of coalbed methane—a natural gas derived from coal seams. Alabama's coalbed methane wells are located primarily in the Black Warrior Basin.37,38
Alabama production meets about one-fourth of the state's natural gas demand.39,40 Consumers receive natural gas by interstate pipelines, mainly from Mississippi and the Gulf Coast, but a growing share of supplies is shipped south through Tennessee from Pennsylvania natural gas fields in the Marcellus and Utica shales. More than four-fifths of the natural gas entering Alabama continues through the state, mainly on to markets in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.41 An increasing amount of the natural gas delivered to Alabama customers goes to the electric power sector to fuel electricity generation. Since 2007, that sector has been the largest natural gas-consuming sector in the state. The industrial sector consumes the second-largest amount.42,43 Although about 3 out of every 10 households use natural gas for heating, the residential sector typically uses only about 5% of the natural gas delivered to customers, primarily because of the state's mild winters.44,45
Coal
Mobile is one of the largest U.S. coal cargo seaports, handling both imports and exports.
Coal has been mined commercially in Alabama for more than 150 years and supported development of the iron and steel industry in the state.46 Alabama holds about 1% of U.S. economically-recoverable coal reserves, and in 2016 the state ranked 15th in total coal production and 9th in bituminous coal production.47 Alabama produces large amounts of high-quality bituminous coal from both surface and underground mines.48,49 In 2016, about two-thirds of the coal produced in the state was exported.50,51 During 2017, Mobile, Alabama, was the nation's fourth-largest seaport for exporting U.S. coal and was second only to Tampa, Florida, in handling U.S. coal imports.52 About one-fifth of the coal mined in Alabama is delivered by barge, railroad, and truck to electric power plants in the state. Another one-tenth of the state's mined coal is delivered to coke plants and other industrial facilities in Alabama. Minor amounts of Alabama coal also are delivered to coke plants in Indiana and Ohio.53,54
Only about one-third of the domestically produced coal used in Alabama is mined in the state. Wyoming supplies more than half of the U.S. coal consumed in Alabama and Illinois provides almost one-tenth. All of the coal from those two states is delivered to electric power plants, the largest coal consumers in Alabama. Roughly another one-tenth of domestic coal comes by railroad, river barge, and truck from several other states for use in Alabama power plants and industrial facilities.55 Imported coal, primarily from Latin America, is also used in Alabama.56
Electricity
Alabama is seventh among the states in net electricity generation.57 Coal historically fueled the largest share of electric power generation in the state, but aging coal-fired generating plants have been shut down, including 2,300 megawatts of coal capacity from 2014 through 2016.58 Since 2008, coal-fired power plants' contribution has fallen from more than half to less than one-fourth of Alabama's net electricity generation, while natural gas' share has risen from one-fifth to more than one-third.59
The Browns Ferry plant has the second-largest nuclear electric generating capacity in the nation.
Alabama is the nation's fourth largest generator of electricity from nuclear power. The state's two nuclear power plants, with a total of five reactors, typically produce about one-fourth of the electricity generated in Alabama.60,61,62 The three reactors at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Limestone County have a combined generating capacity of 3,310 megawatts, second only to Arizona's Palo Verde plant in generating capacity among U.S. nuclear power plants.63
Alabama is the second largest hydroelectric power producer east of the Rocky Mountains, after New York.64 Nearly two dozen hydroelectric dams on the state's rivers typically supply about 6% of net electricity generation.65,66 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.67,68
Power production in Alabama exceeds the state's consumption, and typically one-third of the electricity generated in the state is delivered to neighboring states over high-voltage interstate transmission lines.69,70 Alabama's industrial sector accounts for most of the electricity consumption in the state, followed closely by the residential sector.71 Average monthly consumption of electricity in Alabama's residential sector is the third highest in the nation, mainly because of the region's high demand for air conditioning during the hot summer months and the widespread use of electricity for home heating during the winter months.72,73 Three out of five Alabama households heat with electricity.74
Renewable energy
Renewable energy sources supply about 1 in every 11 megawatthours of electricity generated in Alabama. The state's hydroelectric facilities account for nearly three-fourths of the renewable electricity generation.75 Almost all the rest of Alabama's utility-scale renewable generation comes from biomass, most of which is generated at industrial facilities.76 Alabama has no utility-scale wind generation, but there are a few areas along its short Gulf coastline and along stretches of mountaintop in northeastern Alabama with modest wind resources.77,78
In 2017, Alabama had the third-largest growth rate in solar power generation among the states, in part because Alabama's solar sector is relatively new.79 The state's first commercial solar farm, with 75 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity, opened in 2016.80 Alabama's installed solar power generation capacity totaled nearly 260 megawatts by the end of 2017.81 The U.S. Army, in collaboration with Alabama Power, the state's largest electric utility, is developing large-scale solar projects at several military installations in the state.82 The state's other major electricity provider, TVA, operates two small solar facilities in Alabama, one at a botanical garden and one at a wastewater treatment plant.83 There is currently little distributed (customer-sited, small-scale) solar capacity installed in the state, though several companies have installed systems at their facilities.84
Additionally, the state has five commercial biomass pellet plants with a combined annual production capacity of 723,000 short tons, almost 5% of the nation's total production capacity.85 Alabama does not have any ethanol plants, but the state does have two facilities that produce biodiesel from multiple feedstocks.86
Alabama does not have a renewable portfolio standard but does have some standards for energy savings and efficiency,87 Including an energy building code for commercial and residential buildings and energy conservation measures for state-owned buildings.88 TVA and several other electricity providers offer homeowners and businesses financial incentives to save energy or to install renewable energy generation.89
Endnotes
1 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Annual Coal Report 2016 (November 2017), Table 14, Recoverable Coal Reserves and Average Recovery Percentage at Producing Mines by State, 2016 and 2015.
2 U.S. EIA, Alabama Profile Data, Reserves and Supply, accessed April 11, 2018.
3 U.S. EIA, Coalbed Methane, Proved Reserves as of December 31, 2011-16.
4 University of Alabama, Department of Geography, Physiographic Regions, accessed April 11, 2018.
5 Christy, John, "Alabama's Climate, It's the Humidity!" Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, State Climate Series, accessed April 11, 2018.
6 Geology.com, Alabama Lakes, Rivers and Water Resources, accessed April 11, 2018.
7 Alabama Power, Our Lakes and Dams, accessed April 11, 2018.
8 Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Forest Facts, accessed April 11, 2018.
9 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C13, Energy Consumption per Capita by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2015.
10 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C10, Energy Consumption by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2015.
11 Alabama Department of Commerce, Made in Alabama, Industries, accessed April 11, 2018.
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, 2014, 2015, 2016.
13 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C10, Energy Consumption by End-Use Sector, Ranked by State, 2015.
14 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
15 U.S. EIA, Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 2015 RECs Survey Data, Tables HC6.8, Space Heating, and HC7.8, Air Conditioning, East South Central census division (February 2017).
16 U.S. EIA, Alabama Crude Oil Proved Reserves, 1987-2016.
17 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.
18 U.S. EIA, Crude Oil Production, Annual Thousand Barrels, 2012-17.
19 Fractracker, Alabama Shale Viewer, updated January 6, 2017.
20 U.S. EIA, Alabama Field Production of Crude Oil, 1981-2017.
21 U.S. EIA, Refinery Capacity Report 2017 (June 2017), Table 3, Capacity of Operable Petroleum Refineries by State as of January 1, 2017.
22 Shell United States, Mobile, AL, accessed April 12, 2018.
23 Goodway Refining, LLC, accessed April 12, 2018.
24 Hunt Refining Company, Refining Operations, Tuscaloosa Refinery, accessed April 12, 2018.
25 Colonial Pipeline Company, System Map, accessed April 12, 2018.
26 Kinder Morgan, Plantation Pipe Line Company (PPL), accessed April 12, 2018.
27 U.S. EIA, State Energy Data System, Table C2, Energy Consumption Estimates for Major Energy Sources in Physical Units, 2015.
28 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Reformulated Gasoline, updated December 5, 2016.
29 American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), U.S. Gasoline Requirements, updated January 2018.
30 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure, Overview, accessed April 12, 2018.
31 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Approves Request from Alabama to Relax the Summer Gasoline Volatility Standard for the Birmingham Area, June 2015.
32 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
33 U.S. EIA, Alabama Dry Natural Gas Expected Future Production, 1990-2016.
34 U.S. EIA, Estimated Dry Natural Gas contained in Total Natural Gas Proved Reserves, Proved Reserves as of Dec. 31, 2010-16.
35 U.S. EIA, Alabama Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals, 1967-2016.
36 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals, Annual, 2012-17.
37 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Gross Withdrawals from Coalbed Wells, Annual-Million cubic feet, 2011-16.
38 Coalbed Methane Association of Alabama, Coalbed Methane in Alabama, accessed April 12, 2018.
39 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production, Marketed Production, Annual, 2012-17.
40 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Alabama, Annual, 2012-17.
41 U.S. EIA, International and Interstate Movements of Natural Gas by State, Alabama, Annual, 2011-16.
42 U.S. EIA, Alabama Natural Gas Deliveries to Electric Power Customers, 1997-2017.
43 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Alabama, Annual, 1997-2017.
44 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
45 U.S. EIA, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Alabama, Annual, 1997-2017.
46 Mining Artifacts, Alabama Mines, accessed April 13, 2018.
47 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2016 (November 2017), Table 6, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State and Coal Rank, 2016; Table 15, Recoverable Coal Reserves at Producing Mines, Estimated Recoverable Reserves, and Demonstrated Reserve Base by Mining Method, Total Estimated Recoverable Reserves, 2016.
48 Coalfields of the Appalachian Mountains, Northern Alabama Coalfields (Including Georgia), accessed April 13, 2018.
49 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Report 2016 (November 2017), Table 2, Coal Production and Number of Mines by State, County, and Mine Type, 2016.
50 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, 4th Quarter 2017 (April 2018), Table 2, Coal Production by State.
51 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2016 (November 2017), Domestic and foreign distribution of U.S. coal by origin State.
52 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, 4th Quarter 2017 (April 2018), Table 13, U.S. Coal Exports by Customs District; Table 20, Coal Imports by Customs District.
53 U.S. EIA, Quarterly Coal Report, 4th Quarter 2017 (April 2018), Table 2, Coal Production by State.
54 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2016 (November 2017), Domestic Distribution of U.S. coal by origin State, consumer, destination and method of transportation, Table OS-1, Alabama, 2016.
55 U.S. EIA, Annual Coal Distribution Report 2016 (November 2017), Domestic Distribution of U.S. coal by destination State, consumer, destination and method of transportation, Table DS-1, Alabama, 2016.
56 Union of Concerned Scientists, Alabama's Dependence on Imported Coal, Burning Coal, Burning Cash: 2014 Update (January 2014).
57 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.3.B.
58 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018, February 2017, February 2016), Table 6.4.
59 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, annual, Alabama, 2001-17.
60 U.S. EIA, U.S. Nuclear Generation and Generating Capacity, 2018P (March 27, 2018).
61 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Tables 1.3.B, 1.9.B.
62 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, annual, Alabama, 2001-17.
63 U.S. EIA, U.S. Nuclear Generation and Generating Capacity, 2018P (March 27, 2018).
64 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.10.B.
65 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, annual, Alabama, 2014-17.
66 AL.com, Hydroelectric Power Plants in Alabama, accessed April 16, 2018.
67 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.15.B.
68 U.S. EIA, Alabama Profile Overview, Map Layers, Biomass Power Plant, accessed April 16, 2018.
69 U.S. EIA, State Electricity Profiles, Alabama, 2016, Table 10, Supply and disposition of electricity, 1990 through 2016.
70 U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Electric Power Markets: Southeast, updated March 10, 2016.
71 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 5.4.B.
72 U.S. EIA, Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 2015 RECs Survey Data, Tables HC6.8, Space Heating, and HC7.8, Air Conditioning, East South Central census division (February 2017).
73 U.S. EIA, Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price, 2016 Average Monthly Bill-Residential, Average Monthly Consumption (kWh), accessed April 16, 2018.
74 U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, Alabama, Table B25040, House Heating Fuel, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
75 U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, annual, Alabama, 2014-17.
76 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.15.B.
77 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, WINDExchange, Wind Energy in Alabama, Maps & Data, accessed April 17, 2018.
78 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.14.B.
79 U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2018), Table 1.17.B.
80 Smith, Tom, "River Bend Solar Energy Center operational, selling solar power," Times Daily (November 20, 2016).
81 Solar Energy Industries Association, Alabama Solar, accessed April 17, 2018.
82 U.S. Army, Fort Rucker Large-Scale Renewable Energy Solar Project (April 2016).
83 Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA in Alabama, accessed April 17, 2018.
84 Solar Energy Industries Association, Alabama Solar, accessed April 17, 2018.
85 Pellet Plants, Operational, Biomass Magazine, updated May 17, 2017.
86 U.S. Biodiesel Plants, Biodiesel Magazine, updated December 31, 2017.
87 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Alabama Energy and Residential Codes, accessed April 18, 2018.
88 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, Alabama Programs, accessed April 18, 2018.
89 NC Clean Energy Technology Center, DSIRE, TVA Green Power Providers, updated June 2, 2015.