Per Capita Residential and Industrial Electricity Consumption in U.S. States, 2003-2013

I heard California was an exceptional case (in a good sense) in the U.S. electricity consumption pattern. I wanted to check out the facts. Of course, this is a companion to my previous comparison of electricity consumption in the G20 countries. Because this comparison of U.S. states is not so viewer-friendly, this post will be very brief.

Remember: In the following four figures, the lower any state's data points, the more efficient is the state's electricity consumption behavior. The lower, the better.

(1) Per capita residential electricity consumption
When we look into the per capita residential electricity consumption, California is really exemplary. California is not number one. The most frugal electricity user is Hawaii. Only next to the island state, however, Californians use the least residential electricity per person. New York residents are the third. Alaska, Rhode Island and Massachusetts ranked 4th, 5th, and 6th in 2010, respectively.
By contrast, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Mississippi used the most per capita residential electricity in the United States in 2010.

(2) Per capita industrial electricity consumption
By per capita industrial electricity consumption, Washington DC was consuming the least power. Beside the capital city, Maryland was number one in terms of least industrial-power consumption. Industries in Florida was next to those in Maryland. New Jersey (3rd), Rhode Island (4th), New York (5th), and Connecticut (6th) consumed less industrial electricity per person, too.
On the contrary, manufacturing facilities in Wyoming consumed the most electricity per capita in the United States. Kentucky was a distant runner-up. North Dakota, Indiana, Alabama and Louisiana were also consuming more industrial electricity than most states.



Data sources:

Population: U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). Population Estimates. Suitland, MD: U.S. Census Bureau. [Data at http://j.mp/States_Population]

State electricity consumption: U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2015). Electricity: Detailed State Data. Washington, DC: U.S. Energy Information Administration. [Data at http://j.mp/States_Electricity]