Energy Use

Definition

Total residential gas and electric energy use in BTUs per customer

Why is it Important?

Energy use is a key sustainability issue because reducing energy promotes energy security, improves regional air quality, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and saves money for residents. This indicator measures total electric and gas energy use for residential customers, including natural gas and other types of house heating fuels.¹

How are we Doing?

In the St. Louis region, total residential gas and electric energy use per customer decreased from 111.4 million British thermal units (BTUs) in the baseline year 2010 to 106.6 million BTUs in 2011, a reduction of 4.3 percent. The St. Louis region’s household energy use is higher than the 2009 national average of 89.6 million BTUs per household. However, it is lower than the average for the state of Illinois, which was 128.8 million BTUs per household in 2009, and only slightly higher than the average for the state of Missouri, which was 100.2 million BTUs in 2009.²

Electricity usage declined by 3.7 percent from 2010 to 2012 in the St. Louis region. The sector with the greatest decline (from 13.5 billion kWh to 12.5 billion kWh) was the residential sector, at 7.4 percent. The commercial sector declined by 2.4 percent (from 14.5 billion kWh to 14.1 billion kWh), while the industrial sector increased by 5.5 percent (from 5.7 billion kWh to 6.0 billion kWh).

The St. Louis High Performance Building Initiative is challenging buildings in the region to reduce energy use by 25 percent by 2020. The 25 by 20 campaign encourages buildings to benchmark their energy use using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio manager, a free online tool that tracks energy and water use, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about the campaign here.

Geographic Level

St. Louis eight-county bi-state region, including Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties and the city of St. Louis in Missouri and Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois. View map.

Notes

¹Electricity use is based on the average electricity use of Ameren customers in the St. Louis region. Electricity use for households that are not served by Ameren (approximately 1.3 percent of households) is estimated based on average use of St. Louis region Ameren customers. Gas usage is based on average use of Laclede Gas and Ameren Gas customers in the St. Louis region. Data for other house heating fuels including fuel oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is estimated based on EIA State profile and energy estimates and the American Community Survey house heating fuel estimates for the eight county region.

²U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) Data, accessed on 10 December 2013 at http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2009/index.cfm?view=consumption#undefined

Data Sources

Ameren Corporation, Laclede Gas Company, United States Energy Information Administration, and the American Community Survey, United States Census Bureau