Megawatt hour

This article does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia. Contact our team to suggest an update.

on Energy

Fiscal policy Budgets Budget and finances by state Tax policy by state State Budget Terms State government tax collections by source Total state expenditures State spending by function as a percent of total expenditures State debt Finance Financial regulation in the United States Dodd-Frank Act Federal Reserve Pensions Pension policy by state Public pension health by state Pension reform in San Jose and San Diego Pension Terms and Definitions Public pensions Civil liberties Affirmative action Campaign finance Nonprofit regulation Education Public education by state School choice by state Charter schools by state Higher education by state Education policy in the United States Public education in the United States Education statistics Education statistics in the United States Education spending per pupil Number of schools by school type in the U.S. Demographic information for all students in the United States Public school system expenditures in the United States Public school system revenues in the United States Public school teacher salaries in the United States Graduation rates by groups in state Public high school dropout rates by state ACT and SAT scores in the United States NAEP scores by state Major terms Blended learning Charter schools Common Core Dropout rate Progressive education Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate School vouchers Teacher merit pay United States education agencies Elections Voting policy Voter identification laws by state Online voter registration Early voting Ballot access Ballot access for presidential candidates Ballot access for major and minor party candidates List of political parties in the United States Political party designation Redistricting State-by-state redistricting procedures Majority-minority districts Energy and Environment Energy Policy by state Fracking Portal Fracking information by state Fracking Fracking in the United States Energy policy in the United States Energy use in the United States Oil and gas on federal lands by state Energy terms and definitions Agencies and legislation Environmental Policy by state Endangered Species Policy Endangered species policy by state Environmental policy in the United States Environmental statistics Endangered species statistics Glossary of environmental terms Glossary of endangered species terms Healthcare Healthcare policy by state Medicaid spending by state Effect of the Affordable Care Act by state Healthcare policy in the United States Affordable Care Act Immigration Immigration in the United States Immigration by state

Fracking in the U.S.
Energy policy in the U.S.
State fracking policy
State energy policy
Glossary of energy terms

A megawatt hour (MWh) equals 1,000 kilowatts of electricity generated per hour and is used to measure electric output. In general, megawatts are used to calculate how much a power plant generates electricity or how much electricity is consumed by a particular area, such as a city, state, or country.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Background

Electricity can be measured in the following ways:^[5]

• A watt is the rate at which electricity is consumed at a particular moment. A 20-watt light bulb will consume 20 watts of electricity at any moment when it is on, for example.
• A watt hour is how much electricity is consumed per hour. A 20-watt light bulb consumes 20 watt hours of electricity over one hour, for example.
• A kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts, and one kilowatt hour (kWh) refers to one hour of electricity consumed at a rate of 1,000 watts. The measure kWh generally appears on residential electric bills outlining how much electricity was consumed over a given month.
• A megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts, which is equal to 1 million watts.
• A gigawatt equals 1,000 megawatts, which is equal to 1 billion watts.

Electricity generation

The chart below shows utility-scale net electricity generation in thousand megawatt hours in the United States (by source) from 2001 to 2016. In 2016, the United States produced 141,181 thousand megawatt hours of electricity.^[6]

See also

Footnotes

v • e Energy Policy
Background	Energy policy in the United States • Fracking in the United States • Energy use in the United States • Electricity prices in the United States • Historic state electricity prices • Historic state natural gas prices • State energy production rankings • Environmental Policy • State environmental policy pages • Environmental policy in the United States • Energy and Environmental News
Terms	Abandoned mine drainage • Biofuels • Biomass • BTEX • Clean Air Act • Clean Water Act • Coal • Coalbed methane • Compressed natural gas • Crude oil • Directional drilling • Directional well • Electrical grid • Energy siting • Ethanol • Flare • Flowback • Frac sand • Frack fluid • Fracking • Geosteering • Geothermal energy • Horizontal drilling • Hydrocarbons • Hydroelectric energy • Liquid Petroleum Gases • Megawatt • Megawatt hour • Methane • Mineral rights • Natural gas • Natural gas liquids • Natural gas storage • Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials • Nuclear power • Oil shale • Petrochemicals • Petroleum • Petroleum systems • Produced water • Proppants • Public Trust Doctrine • Renewable energy resources • Renewable Portfolio Standards • Seismicity • Shale gas • Shale play • Slick water frac • Slurry • Solar energy • Traditional energy resources • Vertical drilling • Volatile organic compounds • Wellbore • Wind energy
State energy information	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
State fracking policy	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming