U.S. Demand for Electricity Declined in 2019 and ...

[EastWest Gal]

All of the lights in our house are LED now, except for a few incandescent bulbs on old dimmers. We rarely turn them on, so power consumption from those is minimal. At this point it would not be cost effective to replace those dimmers with LED compatible dimmers.

I still have 10 fluorescent twin-bulb fixtures in my garage. When I installed those LED's were still way too expensive. However, mine have T8 bulbs and electronic ballasts so they turn on instantly, even in cold weather. If it's really cold they dim slightly when I first turn them on, but they come to full brightness before I can get started on anything. I don't spend enough time in the garage to justify switching to LED's at this point.

We replaced virtually all of our incandescent with LEDs within the last month. The new LEDs are affordable and dimmable with standard dimmers. We have quite a bit of recessed lighting, and the LED bulbs work well there too. Just 3 years ago this would have been impossible. With our solar panels and our LEDs, it will be interesting to see the impact on our electric bill.

Our local school district has installed solar arrays on the campuses of most of the schools. At the high school, the solar array is on a rather steep grassy hill. It’s no longer possible to mow there, so instead, they have brought in goats periodically to eat the grass and weeds.

Changes like these are very good to see.

 

[Koolau]

The traditional "long tube" florescents had a good long life but those CFL's are another thing. I've had a lot more short failures with them than LEDs. I don't think I've had an LED ever fail so far and it been over 5 years. And those CFL's get hot too unlike the long tubes.

So far, none of our 2 to 5 year old LEDs have died. Having said that, in the old farm house I stay in during our yearly trek to the midwest, there are two old florescent tubes (over 60 years old) which still work when we (very) occasionally use them. YMMV

 

[marko]

But!
While it's great that everyone is going to LED's, many cities and towns nationwide (mine in MA is now leaning aggressively in that direction) are planning to ban all future natural gas installations.

The solution that's proposed: all new homes and buildings going full electric which, at least in the north-east is the most inefficient and costly way to heat a house.

So while the demand for electricity is currently down we might expect a surge in demand in the near future.

Years ago a neighbor had electric heat and he was paying about 4X what I was to heat his house...he eventually ripped it out and got gas.

 

[frank]

But!
While it's great that everyone is going to LED's, many cities and towns nationwide (mine in MA is now leaning aggressively in that direction) are planning to ban all future natural gas installations.

The solution that's proposed: all new homes and buildings going full electric which, at least in the north-east is the most inefficient and costly way to heat a house.

So while the demand for electricity is currently down we might expect a surge in demand in the near future.

Years ago a neighbor had electric heat and he was paying about 4X what I was to heat his house...he eventually ripped it out and got gas.

it would be scary to not allow installation of gas products, because gas in my area is cheaper by far for heat than electricity and if you limit yourself to one supplier a monopoly is on the way.

 

[mountainsoft]

We replaced virtually all of our incandescent with LEDs within the last month. The new LEDs are affordable and dimmable with standard dimmers. We have quite a bit of recessed lighting, and the LED bulbs work well there too. Just 3 years ago this would have been impossible. With our solar panels and our LEDs, it will be interesting to see the impact on our electric bill.

I tried LED bulbs with the old dimmers in our bedroom. They worked, but didn't dim smoothly, and performed poorly at the lowest levels where we typically dim them. For now I just left incandescents in those since we hardly ever turn them on.

I would love to install solar panels but we're surrounded by forest. We're lucky to get two hours of direct sunlight a day.

 

[mountainsoft]

all new homes and buildings going full electric which, at least in the north-east is the most inefficient and costly way to heat a house.

I suppose it depends on where you live and what your electric rates are. We live in Washington state and pay $125 per month for our all electric home (averaged over the year). That's for lighting, simple resistance wall heaters, hot water, cooking, laundry, and a well pump.

I wonder how an electric heat pump would compare to gas heating based on cost?

 

[marko]

I suppose it depends on where you live and what your electric rates are. We live in Washington state and pay $125 per month for our all electric home (averaged over the year). That's for lighting, simple resistance wall heaters, hot water, cooking, laundry, and a well pump.

It does depend on where you live, I think. We're in the Boston area and pay about $400 a month just for electricity and have gas for heat, hot water, cooking, fireplace and grill.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

I shifted to Solar-power in 2015.

Since I use solar-power, I have been trying to follow the industry. But I have noticed that Public Utilities only track the number of 'grid-tied net-metering' solar users exist. There is nobody collecting data on off-grid solar-power users.

Nobody honestly knows how many people in our nation have solar-power. We only know how many homes put solar-generated power onto the grid.

In my town alone there are four solar-powered homes, and three of them are off-grid.

As far as I can tell roughly 75% of all solar-powered homes are off-grid and effectively are no longer counted by the bean-counters.

Yes, I attend solar-power fairs each year. Most sales are for off-grid homes.

 

[homestead]

So with more supply of electricity available and less demand will the cost/kwh be going down ?

 

[Zathras]

It does depend on where you live, I think. We're in the Boston area and pay about $400 a month just for electricity and have gas for heat, hot water, cooking, fireplace and grill.

Not only where you live but what technology you use.
Our house is all electric, including both our cars.
Using ground source heat pumps, our heat is costs less that nat gas.
Air source heat pumps have been getting better and better. I am not sure if they have reached the same cost as nat gas, but they are a lot cheaper than baseboard resistance heating.

Due to solar, we produce more energy than we use on an annual basis.
The excess goes to our neighbors

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

...
It does depend on where you live, I think. We're in the Boston area and pay about $400 a month just for electricity and have gas for heat, hot water, cooking, fireplace and grill.

Wow

I live about 4 hours drive North of you.

You spend a lot of electricity. Our break even for shifting to solar-power was $200/month.

We use gas for hot water, and we heat our house with firewood [on average $800/year].

 

[Winemaker]

I get quarterly "nasty-grams" from power company about how my power usage is 33% higher than my neighbors. They assume my house is the same size as everyone else. They don't know I have a wood shop, auto garage or a mini-winery. Both all brick buildings have R38 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls, I'd love to tell them to shove it; I pay for it promptly every month, and at 6.05 cents/kwh, they should be sending me loyalty gift cards!

 

[W2R]

My average electric bill in 2019 was $65/month.
My average natural gas bill in 2019 was $36/month (for stove, heat, and hot water).

Back in 2018 I installed LED bulbs in the lights I most often use, but the electric bill hasn't really changed. There are two reasons for this.

(1) I tend to be less careful now about turning out lights when I leave the room or the house, because I know they aren't costing me much. And,

(2) The electrical usage due to air conditioning here in New Orleans dwarfs the usage due to lights. My electric bills last year ranged from $19 in January, to $140 in August.

I still love my LED bulbs because they are bright enough for aging eyes, because they don't burn out as often, and because I don't feel like it's the end of the world if I forget to turn off the lights when I leave home.

My house is 1500 sf.

 

[HFWR]

I get quarterly "nasty-grams" from power company about how my power usage is 33% higher than my neighbors. They assume my house is the same size as everyone else. They don't know I have a wood shop, auto garage or a mini-winery. Both all brick buildings have R38 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls, I'd love to tell them to shove it; I pay for it promptly every month, and at 6.05 cents/kwh, they should be sending me loyalty gift cards!

It’s those grow lights...

 

[Walt34]

But!
While it's great that everyone is going to LED's, many cities and towns nationwide (mine in MA is now leaning aggressively in that direction) are planning to ban all future natural gas installations.

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of for the reason that you pointed out, that it costs more to heat a house with electricity. Just to be contrary, I'd heat my house with wood, coal, or oil. One of my pet peeves is a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats deciding how everyone else should spend their money to further said bureaucrat's agenda.

When we were looking for a retirement house, one of the major selling points to us was that this one has natural gas heat, stove, water heater, and clothes dryer, all of which are cheaper to use than electricity. Just a few years ago natural gas was heralded as one of the cleanest fuels available since the products of combustion are water and carbon dioxide. Now, apparently, we are considered scourges of society, at least in some locales.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

It’s those grow lights...

I was going to say that as well. I have an old high school friend and ex-coworker who owns a dozen or so rental houses. One day the cops called him up to tell him they arrested one of his tenants for his gardening activities in the basement. The electric bills were what tipped them off.

 

[marko]

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of for the reason that you pointed out, that it costs more to heat a house with electricity. Just to be contrary, I'd heat my house with wood, coal, or oil. One of my pet peeves is a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats deciding how everyone else should spend their money to further said bureaucrat's agenda.

My understanding is that it's to combat climate change by forcing you to use electricity rather than natural gas.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of for the reason that you pointed out, that it costs more to heat a house with electricity. Just to be contrary, I'd heat my house with wood, coal, or oil. One of my pet peeves is a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats deciding how everyone else should spend their money to further said bureaucrat's agenda.

Nobody else is deciding how I heat my retirement home.

 

[Winemaker]

It’s those grow lights...

My buddy who was a submariner, has a complete automated brewery in his garage. They keep writing him the same letters and knocking on his door to check for drugs!

 

[HFWR]

My understanding is that it's to combat climate change by forcing you to use electricity rather than natural gas.

Will be a great when the grid is “clean” enough, but not quite ready for prime time. Then again, our autos got cleaner and more efficient, but only after stricter standards were implemented.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

My buddy who was a submariner has a complete automated brewery in his garage. They keep writing him the same letters and knocking on his door to check for drugs!

I served for 20 years in the US Navy, as an Electronics Tech on subs.

USS George C. Marshall SSBN 654 (b) {78-83}
USS Simon Lake AS-33 {87-90}
USS Casimir Pulaski SSBN 633(g) {92-94}
USS Alaska SSBN 732 (b) {94-97)

What boat was your friend on?


and, yes, I went through a 10-year phase of brewing beer, then wines. I have graduated to corn mash.

 

[Popeye]

I served for 20 years in the US Navy, as an Electronics Tech on subs.

USS George C. Marshall SSBN 654 (b) {78-83}
USS Simon Lake AS-33 {87-90}
USS Casimir Pulaski SSBN 633(g) {92-94}
USS Alaska SSBN 732 (b) {94-97)

What boat was your friend on?


and, yes, I went through a 10-year phase of brewing beer, then wines. I have graduated to corn mash.

Megacorp made the steam turbines on the Simon Lake. I was the parts guy for navy jobs around that time! I think we also had the units on the Marshall.

 

[marko]

Will be a great when the grid is “clean” enough, but not quite ready for prime time.

Wait. What?
Everyone tells me that electricity is super clean. It somehow comes magically out of the sky without using any gas, coal or nuclear power. It comes from the wires I'm told.

Electric cars use no fossil fuel, right? Have I been misled? If I used electric heat instead of gas I'd have no carbon coming out my chimney and thus no carbon footprint, so that's a good thing, no?

 

[CaptTom]

My understanding is that it's to combat climate change by forcing you to use electricity rather than natural gas.

My first thought was it might be a response to the infamous Merrimack Valley gas explosions of 2018. But yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if there was some tree-hugger element, too. It is Massachusetts.

Wait. What?
Everyone tells me that electricity is super clean. It somehow comes magically out of the sky without using any gas, coal or nuclear power. It comes from the wires I'm told.

Electric cars use no fossil fuel, right? Have I been misled? If I used electric heat instead of gas I'd have no carbon coming out my chimney and thus no carbon footprint, so that's a good thing, no?

Yes, I get that this was tongue-in-cheek. But there is actually some validity to the theory that electricity is cleaner than burning your own fossil fuels. For one thing, some of it comes from nuclear, solar, wind and hydro. The large power plants can burn fuel more completely and cleanly. They may be subject to emissions regulations that don't apply to you. They may install scrubbers or other technology that you wouldn't be able to afford.

Despite all this, I'd refuse to live in a town which required me to use electric heat. At least until it became closer to cost-competitive with other options, or they were willing to give me tax breaks to offset the difference.

 

[marko]

My first thought was it might be a response to the infamous Merrimack Valley gas explosions of 2018. But yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if there was some tree-hugger element, too. It is Massachusetts.
.

Actually this seems to be a nation-wide trend that started in Berkeley CA and has spread east.