Numbers released recently by the Energy Information Administration show that electricity sales in the U.
S. continue to slow. For the 5th time since the 2008 recession retail electricity sales have actually declined.
The biggest declines were seen in the industrial sector. While the residential and commercial building sectors were more or less flat.
There is no one simple explanation for the decline in growth of electricity usage in the U.S. Rather, it’s a result of a number of factors. In the residential sector, the number of households has increased.
Yet energy efficiency regulations and improvements the energy efficiency of newly constructed homes have offset the effect of having more households. The EIA report also credits more aggressive federal energy efficiency standards for appliances with the slowdown in household electricity usage. For the commercial and industrial sectors the numbers reflect a continued sluggish economy and a shift of the type of manufacturing performed in the US.
While the government numbers provided no regional breakdown, a separate report by ERCOT, the agency responsible for maintaining the Texas electricity grid showed an increase in electricity usage in Texas for 2015. Since the 2008 recession the U.S. has seen a general population shift to the South and West. Population growth in Texas has likely offset the effect of more energy efficient building and federal energy efficiently standards and appliances.
Texas has also seen cheap electricity rates for a number of years which takes some of the pressure off of consumers to conserve energy and spend on energy efficiently efforts. A website operated by the Texas PUC seeks to help Texas homes and businesses conserve energy with energy saving tips such as “save up to 16% by turning you’re A/C 1-2 degrees warmer”.