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Latest Federal Data: Home Energy Use Down Because of Efficiency

Jan. 8, 2014

Yup, it’s working. Energy efficiency is driving down home energy use. So says data released this week by the US Energy Information Administration, in its first detailed reveal of what’s to come in 2015. EIA gives kudos to lighting and appliance improvements.

Elisa Wood

Yup, it’s working. Energy efficiency is driving down home energy use. So says data released this week by the US Energy Information Administration.

The January 2014 Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA’s first detailed reveal of what it sees coming for 2015, shows residential electricity consumption declining 1.1 percent this year and another 0.4 percent next year.

Adam Sieminski, EIA administrator, credited efficiency improvements to appliances and lighting as a factor slowing growth in electricity use.

But don’t get complacent. As the economy picks up, businesses will start using more electricity.

“While residential electricity consumption may decline because of more energy-efficient appliances and lighting, the improving economy will cause a boost in electricity use by the U.S. industrial sector, which is forecast to consume 2.2 percent more electricity this year and 2.5 percent more in 2015,” Sieminski said.

Residential electricity sales averaged 3,898 million kWh/day in 2011, a figure that falls to 3,798 million kWh/day in 2015. Meanwhile, the forecast shows industrial electricity sales rising from an average 2,716 million kWh/day to 2,754 million kWh/day over the same time period.

The graphic below shows the variation in electricity use by sector.

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

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