Solar by state
Solar in West Virginia, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in West Virginia, from federal 2024 data.
West Virginia in brief
0.41% of West Virginia homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 9th-lowest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 15.07¢/kWh, below the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 8.91 kW. Appalachian Power Company serves 40.3% of homes.
Where does West Virginia stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which West Virginia sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
West Virginia solar in numbers, 2024
Every West Virginia figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | West Virginia | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 0.41% | 3.55% | 9th-lowest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 3,535 | 5,077,543 | 9th-lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 8.91 kW | 6.74 kW | 5th-highest of 51 |
| Residential price | 15.07¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 22nd-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $154.76 | $142.26 | 12th-highest of 51 |
| Use per home | 12,320 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 15th-highest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 17.06% | 5.86% | 4th-highest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | Not reported | 29.1% | No figure |
| Growth in systems, five years | 32.3% a year | — | 13th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 1,166 | 297 (median state) | 7th-highest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 0.31% | 11.1% | 11th-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 31.5 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The West Virginia ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves West Virginia, and what does it charge?
The 5 largest utilities selling to West Virginia homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian Power Company | Investor-owned | 348,946 (40.3%) | 16.77¢ | 1,106 kWh | 1,545 (0.44%) |
| Monongahela Power Company | Investor-owned | 334,588 (38.6%) | 13.97¢ | 892 kWh | 834 (0.25%) |
| The Potomac Edison Company | Investor-owned | 135,266 (15.6%) | 12.59¢ | 1,213 kWh | 1,056 (0.78%) |
| Wheeling Power Company | Investor-owned | 34,392 (4.0%) | 17.41¢ | 902 kWh | 100 (0.29%) |
| Black Diamond Power Company | Investor-owned | 3,479 (0.40%) | 15.35¢ | 777 kWh | None reported |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 866,456 West Virginia residential accounts. Each West Virginia price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the West Virginia utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 5 utilities serving homes in West Virginia in 2024, across 866,456 residential accounts. The three largest, Appalachian Power Company, Monongahela Power Company and The Potomac Edison Company, served 94.5% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 98.9% and small utilities EIA counts as a group 1.1%.
All 866,456 West Virginia residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a West Virginia utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Appalachian Power Company, the largest, served 348,946 West Virginia homes (40.3%). Its full-service residential customers paid 16.77¢ per kWh, above the West Virginia average of 15.07¢, and used 1,106 kWh a month on average. 1,545 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 0.44% of its homes against 0.41% statewide.
Among the 4 West Virginia utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 12.59¢ at The Potomac Edison Company to 17.41¢ at Wheeling Power Company.
At the West Virginia average of 12,320 kWh a year, that 4.82¢ gap is worth about $594 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 15.07¢ West Virginia average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Appalachian Power Company alone accounts for 1,545 net-metered residential systems, about 44% of the 3,535 counted in West Virginia, and 4 West Virginia utilities reported any at all. The highest adoption among the larger utilities was at The Potomac Edison Company, where 0.78% of homes had a system.
What does power cost in West Virginia, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in West Virginia averaged 15.07¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 22nd-highest of 51 and below the national 16.48¢. The price sits above the middle of the 51, which tilts the arithmetic toward using production on site rather than exporting it.
The average West Virginia household bill was $154.76 a month ($1,857 a year), the 12th-highest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,857 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical West Virginia home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 0.31% of West Virginia homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 44.7% of West Virginia residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many West Virginia homes have solar?
West Virginia had 3,535 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 866,456 residential accounts: 0.41% of homes, the 9th-lowest of 51. West Virginia is a thin market. Fewer companies can mean slower quotes and less to compare, so ask each one how many local systems it has installed.
The West Virginia market counted 594 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 32.3% a year over five years, the 13th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has West Virginia solar changed since 2014?
West Virginia counted 339 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 3,535 in 2024, 10.4 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.04% to 0.41%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2023, with 767 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 339 | 0.04% | 5.9 kW | 9.34¢ |
| 2016 | 521 | 0.06% | 6.4 kW | 11.44¢ |
| 2018 | 736 | 0.09% | 6.7 kW | 11.18¢ |
| 2020 | 1,020 | 0.12% | 7.3 kW | 11.80¢ |
| 2022 | 2,174 | 0.25% | 8.4 kW | 13.23¢ |
| 2024 | 3,535 | 0.41% | 8.9 kW | 15.07¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. West Virginia shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the West Virginia trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the West Virginia residential price went from 9.34¢ to 15.07¢ per kWh, up 61%, and the average system from 5.9 kW to 8.9 kW.
A rate that has risen that far makes a 2024 bill a conservative base for a West Virginia savings estimate only if the trend continues, which nobody can promise.
How big is a typical West Virginia system?
The average West Virginia system was 8.91 kW in 2024, the 5th-highest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. West Virginia homes used 12,320 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 15th-highest of 51.
A West Virginia home using 12,320 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in West Virginia?
Form EIA-861 reports no third-party-ownership split for the 3,535 systems counted in West Virginia in 2024, so we publish none rather than infer one.
Ask any West Virginia company in writing whether it is selling you the system or a lease or power purchase agreement; the owner of a West Virginia system is the one who claims any tax credit.
Do West Virginia homes add batteries?
In West Virginia, 17.06% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (603 systems), the 4th-highest of 47. That is one of the highest attachment rates in the country, and 2.9 times the national share of 5.86%.
On reliability, the average West Virginia customer went 1,166 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 486 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in West Virginia turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in West Virginia?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in West Virginia, so we publish no company counts. That is not evidence of light regulation: electrical work can be licensed at state or local level even where solar is never named.
With 3,535 systems in West Virginia, the company quoting you may be based out of state. Ask which license it holds, in which state, and confirm it with that authority. What to do when the search comes back empty.
Which states are closest to West Virginia on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to West Virginia’s 0.41% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the West Virginia numbers come from?
The West Virginia figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 3,535 net-metered residential systems counted against 866,456 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 5 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the West Virginia row is in the data as a CSV.
No West Virginia figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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