The map reveals clear regional differences in how states produce and depend on energy. States like Texas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Colorado stand out with very strong production profiles, mainly driven by natural gas and other fossil fuels. A few states, such as North Dakota and Wyoming, show high production despite smaller populations, which shifts their energy balance in a positive direction. Meanwhile, states across the West Coast and much of the Northeast display high dependence on imported energy, even when they have pockets of renewable generation. These patterns show how uneven the country’s production landscape is, with some regions generating far more than they consume while others rely heavily on incoming supply to meet basic demand.

These imbalances matter for energy security, because states with limited internal production are more vulnerable to supply disruptions and price instability. A strong dependence on external energy means that any shift in national infrastructure, transportation routes, or fuel markets can create immediate pressure on those states. On the other hand, regions with high production capacity play a critical role in stabilizing the national energy system. The map helped me see how policy efforts around grid resilience, renewable investment, and interstate energy distribution need to reflect these regional realities. Strengthening infrastructure in high-dependency states and supporting diversification in major producing states would reduce risk and make the overall system more resilient.

References

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2025). State Energy Data System (SEDS): Complete data file, 1960–2023 [Data set].
https://www.eia.gov/state/seds/

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2025). SEDS Technical Notes and Documentation.
https://www.eia.gov/state/seds/seds-technical-notes-complete.php

U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Geological Survey. (2024). TIGER/Line Shapefiles: States (cb = TRUE).
https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html

Pebesma, E. (2018). Simple Features for R: Standardized Support for Spatial Vector Data. The R Journal, 10(1), 439–446.

Cheng, J., Karambelkar, B., & Xie, Y. (2023). leaflet: Create Interactive Web Maps with the JavaScript ‘Leaflet’ Library [R package].

Wickham, H., & Grolemund, G. (2016). R for Data Science (Tidyverse principles) [Book].