Data Source: California Energy Commission, California Energy Consumption Database; U.S. Census Bureau
Analysis by CEC Economics
Highlights
- In 2021, California had the second-lowest per capita electricity consumption (6.45 megawatt-hours) among all the large states in the nation, and behind only Hawaii (6.28 MWh/person) among all 50 states. Furthermore, California's per capita electricity consumption decreased by 5.7% between 2012 and 2022, while per-capita electricity consumption in the rest of the U.S. rose slightly (0.3%).
- 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. Despite the year-over-year increase, per-capita electricity consumption in California was still 11.9% below its peak in 2008. It has also been trending down faster than in the rest of the U.S., which has declined by less than half as fast (5.4%) compared to when consumption peaked in 2007. This is a testament of California’s comprehensive energy efficiency policies.
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