In 2022, California generated $5.29 of GDP (inflation-adjusted) for every 10,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) of energy consumed—more than double the national average of $2.71/ per 10,000 BTU of energy consumed.

California has continuously outperformed the rest of the U.S. in terms of energy efficiency gains as a share of GDP produced—averaging a 3.7% compounded average growth rate (CAGR) between 2012 and 2022. This is two times the 1.7% CAGR recorded for the rest of the U.S. during the same period.

Although still in line with pre-pandemic trends, energy productivity gains in both California and the rest of the U.S. have stagnated since 2020.

After nearly two decades of declining energy consumption relative to GDP, it increased slightly (0.4%) from 2021 to 2022. This rare reversal is due to the reopening of the economy post-pandemic in which leisure, hospitality, and travel activities rebounded sharply. Year-over-year energy intensity grew by 3.3% in the transportation sector and by 2.4% in the commercial sector.

Meanwhile, the energy intensity of the residential sector and the industrial sector declined by 2.3% and 4.3%, respectively.

As the economy continued to rebound from the pandemic, energy consumption increased year-over-year in both California and the rest of the U.S. However, California’s energy consumption is still below pre-pandemic levels.

California’s total statewide energy consumption was 3.3% lower in 2022 than in 1990, while energy consumption per capita is 25.8% lower than in 1990.

In recent years, energy consumption has decreased faster in California than the rest of the U.S., partly due to California’s declining population. From 2017 to 2022, total energy consumption fell by 4.1% in California, while consumption rose by 1.3% in the rest of the U.S.

Although energy consumption continued to rebound in 2022, it was still 5.6% lower compared to 2019. This is largely due to the industrial sector, where energy consumption fell 9.0% from 2019 to 2022.

On a per capita basis, energy consumption in the industrial sector is two-thirds less compared to 1990 levels. Per capita energy consumption in the other end-use sectors is more than 20% below 1990 levels.

Renewable energy is the fastest-growing fuel source for both electric and non-electric consumption, growing by 36.1 and 119.6%, respectively, between 2012 to 2022.¹⁰⁸

California continues to make progress in electrifying its economy. Non-electricity natural gas consumption fell by 4.7% while electricity consumption rose by 0.1% between from 2021 to 2022.

From 2002 to 2022, natural gas consumption declined by 3.8% while electricity consumption in California has increased by 11.8%.

Natural gas non-electricity consumption in California was 19.2% higher than electricity consumption in 2022. However, the gap is narrowing compared to pre-pandemic levels—it was 33.1% higher in 2019.

In 2022, California had the second-lowest per capita electricity consumption among the 50 states (6.45 megawatt-hours/person), behind Hawaii (6.28 MWh/person). In 2022, California had the fourth-lowest per capita energy consumption (176.3 million BTU), which includes electricity consumption, among the 50 states behind Rhode Island (170.6 million BTU), Massachusetts (172.3 million BTU) and New York (175.5 million BTU).

Per-capita electricity consumption in California fell by 5.7% from 2012 to 2022, in contrast to the slight increase of 0.3% for the rest of the U.S.

Energy consumption per capita in California declined by 5.3% from 2012 to 2022, while consumption decrease by 2.6% in the rest of the U.S. during the same period.

On a year-over-year basis, per-capita electricity consumption rose by 2.1% in California from 2021 to 2022, which is slightly less than the 2.8% increase for rest of the U.S.

On the other hand, per-capita energy consumption rose by 1.4% from 2021 to 22 in California, slightly higher than in the rest of the U.S., where per-capita energy consumption rose by 1.1%.

Despite the year-over-year increase, per-capita electricity consumption in California is 11.9% below its peak in 2008 and has been trending down faster than the rest of the U.S. In the U.S., per capita consumption declined by only 5.4% compared to when consumption peaked in 2007. This is a testament of California’s comprehensive energy efficiency policies.

California’s electricity bill as a percentage of GDP was 1.54% in 2022, slightly higher than the shares from 2016 to 2021, when it was below 1.5%.

On the other hand, California’s energy expenditures rose substantially to 5.5% of GDP in 2022, markedly higher than the sub-five percent levels observed in 2016 to 2021.

Previously, California finished in fourth place in terms of lowest energy expenditures relative to GDP. As a result of rapidly rising energy expenditures, however, California fell to sixth place, behind Massachusetts (3.6%), New York (3.9%), Washington (4.6%), New Jersey (5.3%), and Delaware (5.3%).

Similarly, California’s ranking in having the lowest electricity bill as percentage of GDP has also slipped to eighth place in 2022, behind Washington (1.1%), Utah (1.1%), Massachusetts (1.15%), New York (1.3%), Colorado (1.35%), New Jersey (1.45%), and Delaware (1.5%). California’s slip in the rankings is due to having one of the highest electricity costs per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the U.S.; its relatively good standing is primarily due to its highly energy-efficient economy.

Because of the high electricity costs per kWh, California finishes in the middle of the pack (24th place) in terms of electricity bill per capita, a far cry from the sixth-place position it held pre-pandemic and its third-place position in 2016. California’s per-capita electricity bill in 2022 was 67% higher than Utah’s, which had the lowest per-capita electricity bill. This was a significant spike compared to 2017, when California’s per-capita electricity bill was only 19% higher than Utah’s.

Likewise, in terms of having the lowest per-capita energy bill, California also finished in the middle (25th place) in 2022. The rapidly rising energy costs is a serious concern, given that California used to have the lowest per-capita energy bill from 2007 to 2011. Compared to Massachusetts, which had the lowest per-capita energy bill in 2022, California’s per-capita energy bill was 44% higher. Whereas, in 2017, California’s per-capita energy bill was only 14% higher than Massachusetts.

California's average monthly commercial electricity bill was 57.1% higher than the U.S. average in 2022. This represents a sharp increase compared to a decade ago in 2012, when California’s average monthly commercial electricity bill was only 14.4% higher than the U.S. average.

Moreover, California's once-held advantage of having a lower average residential electricity bill compared to the rest of the U.S. has vanished in the wake of the pandemic. In 2012, the margin stood at 20.4% below the national average—it has shifted to a 2.2% higher figure than the U.S. average as of 2022.

As of October 2024, 16 cities and counties had adopted local ordinances exceeding the current (2022) energy code.

Several cities had adopted additional local ordinances in 2024 to further accelerate energy efficiency and electrification in buildings. While Corte Madera, San Anselmo, San Luis Obispo, and San Rafael adopted new ordinances on efficiency improvements for single-family additions and alterations.

Of the 58 counties in California, utility gas is the primarily source for home heating in 42 of them. Among these 42 counties, Southern California has the highest percentage of homes heated with utility gas—Ventura County (74.1%), San Bernardino County (71.7%) and Santa Barbara County (70.8%).

Owner-occupied households are far more likely to have solar as the source of home heating fuel than renter-occupied households. In 2022, solar made up 1.9% of owner-occupied households and 0.3% of renter-occupied households.

On the other hand, the share of renter-occupied households using electricity as the heating fuel source is about double that of owner-occupied households. In 2022, electricity was used in 21.3% of owner-occupied households and in 41% of renter-occupied households. Overall, about 30% of households in California are heated with electricity.

As of 2022, California held the distinction of having the second-highest solar market share of 0.93% among states, falling behind only Hawaii (4.18%).

In 2022, California's solar as heating fuel adoption rate grew at a steady pace of 14% compared to 2021, which had a similar year-over-year growth rate of 15%. However, this is slightly slower than the U.S. average (18%). Meanwhile, the adoption rate increased by over 40% in fellow sunny states such as Florida (43%) and Nevada (42%).

Despite having one of the most comprehensive energy efficiency standards, programs, and policies, California has not been a top performer in terms of annual incremental electricity savings from energy efficiency.¹⁰⁹

In 2022, electricity savings from energy efficiency totaled 2.9 million megawatt-hours, which is 1.17% of total electricity consumption. This placed California in 13th place among the 50 states. By comparison, New Jersey is the top saver (1.76%), followed closely by Vermont (1.75%) and Illinois (1.74%). California’s savings rate is about twice the national average. (0.58%).

California’s savings rate has fallen compared to 2021 (1.23%). It peaked at 3.6 million MWh incremental energy savings or 1.39% of total electricity consumption in 2017. Electricity savings from energy efficiency has also declined across the United States.

The commercial sector and the residential sector accounted for the lion’s share of savings in 2022, at 43.8 and 53.5%, respectively. The industrial sector accounted for the remaining 2.8%.

Over time, electricity savings from energy efficiency have fallen in the commercial sector since 2013 (1.65 million MWh) to 2022 (1.29 million MWh). The opposite is true in the residential sector, which has risen from 1.07 million MWh in 2013 to 1.58 million MWh in 2022.