Energy Consumption & Conservation: An Overview

This post is part of a series on energy consumption and conservation.  For other posts in this series please click here.

Energy Consumption and Conservation: An Overview

As an organization, MWA has been extremely vocal in our opposition to the proposed deep mine in Donegal Township, Westmoreland County and Saltlick Township, Fayette County. We believe that if LCT is permitted to carry out their plans, our water quality and our community’s quality of life will be negatively affected.

And while spreading awareness throughout the community about the potential harmful effects of deep mining are crucial, providing solutions to the overall energy consumption problem we face also plays a central role in our efforts.

Understanding how much energy we consume, and where that energy comes from, allows us to see how we can reduce the need for such energy production, and thus, reduce the need for dangerous mining operations in the first place.

Pennsylvania’s Energy Consumption

[1]Pennsylvania households consume an average of 96 million Btu per year, 8% more than the U.S. average. Pennsylvania residents also spend 16% more than the average U.S. households for energy consumed in their homes.

There are a few reasons why Pennsylvanians, on average, consume more household energy compared to the rest of the country:

  • In PA, 50% of all household energy is used for space heating, compared to 41% nationwide. This correlates with the fact that Pennsylvania has fewer small residences (apartments and mobile homes), compared to the rest of the country.
  • The average square footage of a Pennsylvania residence is 2,240 feet compared to a national average of 1,971 feet. It simply takes more energy to heat an entire two-story house than it does an apartment.
  • Pennsylvania also comes in slightly below the national average in homes with a programmable thermostat (more on this to come).

Air conditioning accounts for a larger share of household consumption in Pennsylvania than other Northeast states, but still only accounts for 3% of the total energy used in homes.

PA residents use central air-conditioning units less, and wall/window units more than the average US home. When all types of air-condition usage is combined, PA residents uses approximately 6% more than the U.S. average.

Natural gas (38%) provides heat to more Pennsylvania homes than any other fuel, but electricity (29%), fuel oil (20%), and propane (9%) are also widely used in the state.

According to the EIA, in 2012, Pennsylvania consumed the third-most coal of any state in the country (1,093.3 trillion Btu), behind only Indiana and Texas. “With the increase in natural gas availability, the proportion of power generated from coal is declining, but coal remains the largest energy source for electricity generation.”

[1] Household Energy Use in Pennsylvania. U.S. Energy Information Administration. 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=PA#tabs-3>