Although Iowa's fossil fuel resources are extremely limited, the state's energy supply has been adequate. In 2000, Iowa consumed 372 million Btu (93.7 million kcal) per capita, to rank 19th among the states.
The state's production of electricity (utility and nonutility) totaled 38.8 billion kWh in 1999; total installed capacity was 9 million kW. Coal-fired plants supplied 85% of generated power and nuclear power plants 9%, with the remainder coming from gas, hydroelectric power, and other sources. Iowa has one single-unit nuclear plant, the Duane Arnold plant in Palo.
Extensive coalfields in southeastern Iowa were first mined in 1840. The boomtown of Buxton, in Monroe County, mined sufficient coal in 1901 to support a population of 6,000 people, of whom 5,500 were transplanted southern blacks, but the mines closed in 1918 and Buxton became a ghost town. The state's annual bituminous coal production reached nearly 9 million tons in 1917–18. Coal output in 1994 was only 46,000 tons; recoverable coal reserves totaled 1.1 billion tons in 2001.