Report: 1 in 4 U.S. homes now powered only by electricity

Stephen Huba | Wednesday, May 1, 2019 11:37 a.m.

Tribune-Review File

One in four homes in the United States are now powered only by electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The share of all-electric homes has risen in each census region over the past decade, particularly in the Midwest and South, according to the EIA’s 2015 Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Changes to the types of equipment used in homes and faster population growth in warmer climates have contributed to the rise in all-electric homes, EIA said.

The most common end uses considered for the EIA analysis were space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, cooking, clothes dryers, swimming pools and hot tubs.

From 2005 to 2015, the share of U.S. homes using electricity for their main heating equipment increased from 30% to 36%, with the share of heated homes using a heat pump increasing from 8% to 12%. At the same time, the share of homes using electricity for their main water heater increased from 39% to 46%, EIA said.

Single-family detached homes were the least likely to be all electric (18% in 2015), while mobile homes were the most likely (44% in 2015). Newer homes also were more likely to be all electric — 35% of homes built in 1980 or later used only electricity, compared with 17% of homes built before 1980, EIA said.