In the United States, electricity derived from coal has decreased over the past two decades, with the annual output declining by almost 65 percent between 2010 and 2024. In contrast, there has been a rise in natural gas and renewable sources within the energy mix. How is electricity generated in the U.S.? Most electricity in the U.S. is generated from steam turbines, which can be powered by fossil and nuclear fuels, biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal energy. Other systems such as gas turbines, hydro turbines, wind turbines, and solar photovoltaics are also major generation technologies. Electric utilities in the U.S. generated more than 2,241 terawatt hours in 2024, accounting for just over half of the power output in the country that year. Growing renewable capacity Renewable sources have become more prominent in the U.S. over the past years, particularly wind, hydro, and solar energy. The former has overtaken conventional hydropower, becoming the leading renewable energy source in the U.S. since 2019. Wind and solar power have also accounted for the largest share of electricity capacity additions in the country in recent years.

Petroleum is the primary source of energy in the United States, with a consumption of 35.35 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024. Closely following, the U.S. had 34.2 quadrillion British thermal units of energy derived from natural gas. Energy consumption by sector in the United States Petroleum is predominantly utilized as a fuel in the transportation sector, which is also the second-largest consumer of energy in the U.S. with almost 30 percent of the country’s total energy consumption in 2024. This figure is topped only by the energy-guzzling industrial sector, a major consumer of fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. Renewable energy in the United States Despite the prevalence of fossil fuels in the U.S. energy mix, the use of renewable energy consumption has grown immensely in the last decades to approximately 11 exajoules in 2023. Most of the renewable energy produced in the U.S. is derived from biomass, hydro and wind sources. In 2024, renewable electricity accounted for approximately 24 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation.

United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data was reported at 82.776 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 82.935 % for 2014. United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 87.236 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.982 % in 1967 and a record low of 82.776 % in 2015. United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Fossil fuel comprises coal, oil, petroleum, and natural gas products.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Throughout the past decade, the United States has been notably decreasing its use of coal, and increasing the use of natural gas and renewable energy sources for electricity generation. In 2024, natural gas was by far the largest source of electricity in the North American country, with a generation share of 43 percent. Renewable energy's share amounted to 24 percent that year.

United States Total Energy Consumption data was reported at 93.691 BTU qn in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 94.812 BTU qn for 2022. United States Total Energy Consumption data is updated yearly, averaging 92.977 BTU qn from Dec 1980 (Median) to 2023, with 44 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.965 BTU qn in 2007 and a record low of 70.489 BTU qn in 1983. United States Total Energy Consumption data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.EIA.IES: Energy Production and Consumption: Annual.

The size of the US Clean Energy Industry market was valued at USD XX Million in 2023 and is projected to reach USD XXX Million by 2032, with an expected CAGR of 10.01% during the forecast period. The clean energy sector in the United States has undergone remarkable growth and transformation in recent years, propelled by a blend of technological innovations, supportive policies, and a rising consumer preference for sustainable alternatives. This market includes various segments such as solar, wind, hydropower, and energy storage, all of which contribute to a diversified energy mix aimed at minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency. Solar energy continues to be a leading component, with decreasing costs and advancements in photovoltaic technology enhancing its accessibility and affordability for both residential and commercial use. Wind energy, encompassing both onshore and offshore projects, has attracted significant investments, bolstered by federal incentives and state mandates. Furthermore, energy storage solutions, particularly batteries, are rapidly advancing to mitigate the intermittency challenges of renewable energy sources, thereby fostering a more dependable and resilient power grid. Government initiatives, including tax incentives, renewable portfolio standards, and climate action commitments, have been instrumental in directing the industry's development. Moreover, the private sector's dedication to sustainability and corporate social responsibility is further propelling market growth. As the United States moves towards a cleaner energy landscape, the sector is anticipated to maintain its growth trajectory, driven by innovation, investment, and a progressively supportive regulatory framework. This transition not only offers prospects for economic advancement but also plays a vital role in global efforts to address climate change. Recent developments include: March 2023: The US Energy Information Administration announced that the total electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022. Renewable energy also exceeded nuclear generation in 2022., May 2022: Greenlane Renewables Inc. announced that it had been awarded a contract for USD 6.8 million for dairy manure to renewable natural gas (RNG) project in the United States., May 2022: The Host Group plans to construct three biogas plants in New York and Ohio. The New York project is expected to produce each 300 SCFM of biogas, and the Ohio project is expected to have approximately 475 SCFM of biogas. The treated renewable natural gas on all three sites will likely be delivered as compressed bio-CNG to tanker trucks transporting the gas to a gas injection site. The upcoming project can have 3,000 American family cars drive on bio-CNG for a year.. Key drivers for this market are: Supportive Government Policies and Incentives4., Environmental Concerns. Potential restraints include: Fossil Fuel Subsidies. Notable trends are: Solar Energy to Witness Significant Growth.

Fossil fuel consumption in the United States amounted to 77.41 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024, a slight increase in comparison to the previous year. Renewables consumption has progressively increased within the period of consideration, reaching 8.6 quadrillion British thermal units that in 2024.

Energy Consumption of United States Over Time

Building Energy Data Book

By Department of Energy [source]

About this dataset

The Building Energy Data Book (2011) is an invaluable resource for gaining insight into the current state of energy consumption in the buildings sector. This dataset provides comprehensive data on residential, commercial and industrial building energy consumption, construction techniques, building technologies and characteristics. With this resource, you can get an in-depth understanding of how energy is used in various types of buildings - from single family homes to large office complexes - as well as its impact on the environment. The BTO within the U.S Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy developed this dataset to provide a wealth of knowledge for researchers, policy makers, engineers and even everyday observers who are interested in learning more about our built environment and its energy usage patterns

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How to use the dataset

This dataset provides comprehensive information regarding energy consumption in the buildings sector of the United States. It contains a number of key variables which can be used to analyze and explore the relations between energy consumption and building characteristics, technologies, and construction. The data is provided in both CSV format as well as tabular format which can make it helpful for those who prefer to use programs like Excel or other statistical modeling software.

In order to get started with this dataset we've developed a guide outlining how to effectively use it for your research or project needs.

• Understand what's included: Before you start analyzing the data, you should read through the provided documentation so that you fully understand what is included in the datasets. You'll want to be aware of any potential limitations or requirements associated with each type of data point so that your results are valid and reliable when drawing conclusions from them.

• Clean up any outliers: You may need to take some time upfront investigating suspicious outliers within your dataset before using it in any further analyses — otherwise, they can skew results down the road if not dealt with first-hand! Furthermore, they could also make complex statistical modeling more difficult as well since they artificially inflate values depending on their magnitude within each example data point (i.e., one outlier could affect an entire model’s prior distributions). Missing values should also be accounted for too since these may not always appear obvious at first glance when reviewing a table or graphical representation - but accurate statistics must still be obtained either way no matter how messy things seem!

• Exploratory data analysis: After cleaning up your dataset you'll want to do some basic exploring by visualizing different types of summaries like boxplots, histograms and scatter plots etc.. This will give you an initial case into what trends might exist within certain demographic/geographic/etc.. regions & variables which can then help inform future predictive models when needed! Additionally this step will highlight any clear discontinuous changes over time due over-generalization (if applicable), making sure predictors themselves don’t become part noise instead contributing meaningful signals towards overall effect predictions accuracy etc…

• Analyze key metrics & observations: Once exploratory analyses have been carried out on rawsamples post-processing steps are next such as analyzing metrics such ascorrelations amongst explanatory functions; performing significance testing regression models; imputing missing/outlier values and much more depending upon specific project needs at hand… Additionally – interpretation efforts based

Research Ideas

• Creating an energy efficiency rating system for buildings - Using the dataset, an organization can develop a metric to rate the energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings in a standardized way.
• Developing targeted campaigns to raise awareness about energy conservation - Analyzing data from this dataset can help organizations identify areas of high energy consumption and create targeted campaigns and incentives to encourage people to conserve energy in those areas.
• Estimating costs associated with upgrading building technologies - By evaluating various trends in building technologies and their associated costs, decision-makers can determine the most cost-effective option when it comes time to upgrade their structures' energy efficiency...

Energy Consumption: Renewable Energy (RE) data was reported at 910.588 BTU tn in Jul 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,016.656 BTU tn for Jun 2018. Energy Consumption: Renewable Energy (RE) data is updated monthly, averaging 517.274 BTU tn from Jan 1973 (Median) to Jul 2018, with 547 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,036.540 BTU tn in May 2018 and a record low of 304.328 BTU tn in Feb 1977. Energy Consumption: Renewable Energy (RE) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.RB002: Energy Consumption.

United States Electricity Consumption data was reported at 10.243 kWh/Day bn in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.765 kWh/Day bn for Feb 2025. United States Electricity Consumption data is updated monthly, averaging 9.940 kWh/Day bn from Jan 1991 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 411 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.179 kWh/Day bn in Jul 2024 and a record low of 7.190 kWh/Day bn in Apr 1991. United States Electricity Consumption data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.RB004: Electricity Supply and Consumption. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

State-level data on all energy sources. Data on production, consumption, reserves, stocks, prices, imports, and exports. Data are collated from state-specific data reported elsewhere on the EIA website and are the most recent values available. Data on U.S. territories also available.

Energy Consumption: Trans: Primary: FF: Coal data was reported at 0.000 BTU tn in Apr 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 BTU tn for Mar 2018. Energy Consumption: Trans: Primary: FF: Coal data is updated monthly, averaging 0.000 BTU tn from Jan 1973 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 544 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.384 BTU tn in May 1973 and a record low of 0.000 BTU tn in Apr 2018. Energy Consumption: Trans: Primary: FF: Coal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.RB002: Energy Consumption.

The City and County Energy Profiles lookup table provides modeled electricity and natural gas consumption and expenditures, on-road vehicle fuel consumption, vehicle miles traveled, and associated emissions for each U.S. city and county. Please note this data is modeled and more precise data may be available from regional, state, or other sources. The modeling approach for electricity and natural gas is described in Sector-Specific Methodologies for Subnational Energy Modeling: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/72748.pdf. This data is part of a suite of state and local energy profile data available at the "State and Local Energy Profile Data Suite" link below and complements the wealth of data, maps, and charts on the State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) platform, available at the "Explore State and Local Energy Data on SLOPE" link below. Examples of how to use the data to inform energy planning can be found at the "Example Uses" link below.

United States US: Energy Use: Kg of Oil Equivalent per Capita data was reported at 6,797.621 kg in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,955.524 kg for 2014. United States US: Energy Use: Kg of Oil Equivalent per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 7,651.901 kg from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8,438.403 kg in 1978 and a record low of 5,612.080 kg in 1961. United States US: Energy Use: Kg of Oil Equivalent per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Energy Production and Consumption. Energy use refers to use of primary energy before transformation to other end-use fuels, which is equal to indigenous production plus imports and stock changes, minus exports and fuels supplied to ships and aircraft engaged in international transport.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Monthly data since January 1973 and annual data since 1949 on U.S. primary and total energy consumption by end-use sector (residential, commercial, industrial, transportation) and electric power sector.

Energy Consumption: Industrial: Primary: FF: Natural Gas excl Supple data was reported at 863.841 BTU tn in Apr 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 909.492 BTU tn for Mar 2018. Energy Consumption: Industrial: Primary: FF: Natural Gas excl Supple data is updated monthly, averaging 720.198 BTU tn from Jan 1973 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 544 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,023.256 BTU tn in Dec 1973 and a record low of 383.434 BTU tn in Feb 1977. Energy Consumption: Industrial: Primary: FF: Natural Gas excl Supple data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.RB002: Energy Consumption.

The North American thermal power market, encompassing the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is a mature yet dynamic sector characterized by a relatively low but steady Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 0.91% from 2019 to 2033. While the market size in 2025 is not explicitly provided, considering the historical period and projected growth, a reasonable estimate places it in the multi-billion dollar range, driven primarily by consistent energy demand in these densely populated regions. Key drivers include the continued reliance on existing infrastructure, particularly in regions with limited access to renewable energy sources. However, the market faces headwinds from increasing regulatory pressure to reduce carbon emissions and the growing adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. This transition creates challenges for coal-fired power plants, leading to potential plant closures and a shift towards cleaner-burning natural gas. The segment breakdown shows a significant share for gas-fired power plants, with coal gradually declining, while nuclear and other fuel types maintain their respective positions. Geographic variations exist, with the United States holding the largest market share due to its extensive energy consumption and existing power infrastructure. Growth within the North American thermal power market over the forecast period (2025-2033) will likely be influenced by government policies promoting energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energy. The sector will see continued investments in upgrading existing facilities to improve efficiency and reduce emissions, alongside a cautious expansion of gas-fired capacity in select regions. While the transition to renewable energy will continue, thermal power plants will remain a significant part of the energy mix in North America for the foreseeable future, especially as a reliable baseload power source. Companies like NextEra Energy, Dominion Energy, and Duke Energy will play key roles in navigating this transition, adapting their strategies to balance profitability with environmental sustainability. The market will also see a continued emphasis on grid modernization and smart grid technologies to improve integration and reliability across the entire power generation mix. Recent developments include: November 2023: GE Vernova’s Gas Power business announced that it would support the development of an end-to-end green hydrogen system that Duke Energy plans to build and operate at its DeBary plant, located in Volusia County, Florida, near Orlando. When operational in 2024, the new hydrogen system will provide peak power to Duke’s customers at times of increased electricity demand. The plant is expected to be the first in the United States and among the world’s first power plants to produce and use green hydrogen to power a gas turbine for peaking power applications when the grid requires additional electrical generation to meet demand. The production, storage, and end-use will be co-located at the DeBary power plant. GE Vernova will support the integration of the turbine with green hydrogen, including the upgrade of one of the four GE 7E gas turbines installed at the site to accommodate hydrogen fuel blends of significant volumes., November 2022: The United States Government announced that eight natural gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants had come online in the United States. Based on estimates and data from the United States Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, these new plants were expected to add 7,775 megawatts (MW) of electric-generating capacity to the United States electric grid., May 2022: JERA Co., Inc., through its subsidiary JERA Americas Inc., entered into a stock purchase agreement with an affiliate of funds managed by Stonepeak for the acquisition of a 100% interest in the thermal power generation projects in Massachusetts and Maine in the United States. The two projects, which had a combined capacity of approximately 1.63 GW, are the Canal Thermal Power Station in Massachusetts and the Bucksport Thermal Power Station in Maine.. Key drivers for this market are: 4., Increasing Investments in Thermal Power Plants. Potential restraints include: 4., Increasing Investments in Thermal Power Plants. Notable trends are: Natural Gas to Dominate the Market.

United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data was reported at 0.904 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.923 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 4.834 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.167 % in 1977 and a record low of 0.774 % in 2012. United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Oil refers to crude oil and petroleum products.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Petroleum is the most used fuel source in the United States, with a consumption level of 35.35 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024. Natural gas is the second-most common fuel source, with consumption levels rising closer to that of petroleum over recent years. Petroleum use post-financial crisis Petroleum in the United States is primarily used for fueling the transportation sector, generating heat and electricity, as well as in the production of plastics. U.S. consumption of petroleum was at its highest before the 2008 global financial crisis, when the price of crude oil rose dramatically. Petroleum consumption began to increase again in 2013, before dropping significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise of natural gas While petroleum consumption has been lower in the last decade than in the early 2000s, the use of natural gas has risen significantly. Natural gas consumption in the United States has seen record highs in recent years, in part due to lower costs and its growing popularity. The U.S. currently produces more natural gas than any country in the world, followed by Russia.

Forecast: Solar Energy Consumption in the US 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!