Note: Other sectors include Agriculture, Mining & Construction, and Streetlights.
Data Source: California Energy Commission, California Energy Consumption Database.
Analysis by CEC Economics
Highlights
- Among the buildings sector, the residential sector (-2.2%) has performed significantly better than the commercial sector (+8.1%) over the last 20-years (2003-2023) in terms of curbing natural gas consumption. Meanwhile, electricity consumption has risen by 15.5% in the residential sector and 1.1% in the commercial sector — evidence that California is gradually electrifying its buildings. Overall, on a 20-year basis from 2003 to 2023, natural gas consumption has risen by 0.4% while electricity consumption in California has increased by 5.0%.
- Natural gas consumption in the miscellaneous sectors, which consists of agriculture, mining & construction, and streetlights, fell 11.2% from 2022 to 2023 while electricity consumption rose 1.8%. Over the same 20-year basis, these collective sectors’ natural gas consumption has decreased by 5.2% while electricity consumption has increased by 13.0%.
Challenges
- California’s industrial sector is shedding electricity consumption while increasing natural gas consumption. Over the same 20-year period, the industrial sector’s natural gas consumption has risen by 3.3% but its electricity consumption has fallen by 13.3%.
- After falling in recent years, natural gas consumption in the residential sector and the commercial sector jumped 7.2% and 6.7%, respectively, from 2022 to 2023. At the same time, electricity consumption fell in both sectors (-3.6% in the residential sector and -1.9% in the commercial sector). Rapidly rising electricity bills may be a culprit, as households and businesses that may have switched to electricity opted not to do so or substituted electric appliances for gas ones.
More About
Energy Efficiency
Related Content