Texas is the pacesetter for consumption of energy
Texas is a place that holds several superlative titles when it comes to energy: Texas produces the most crude oil in the U.S., the most electricity, the most wind power, the most natural gas and the most lignite coal.
It is fitting, then, that Texas is also the nation’s biggest consumer of energy. In 2015, Texas used the most electricity of any state, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The state used nearly 400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity that year, and led the nation for most electricity use in homes, commercial buildings and industrial properties. California and Florida came in second and third in terms of electricity use, each consuming about 25 percent, or 100 million kilowatt-hours less than Texas.
Texas’ average residential retail electricity prices were also well below the national average, the Energy Department’s data shows. Texas customers paid an average of about 11 cents per kilowatthour, compared to 12.6 cents nationally. Texas’ residential prices, however, were far from the cheapest — average electricity prices in Washington state were 9.4 cents a kilowatt-hour, Arkansas 9.9 cents and Louisiana 9.1 cents.
For most Texans, electricity prices are not regulated, and consumers must shop for power plans offering electricity at different rates. While consumer advocates say the options are overwhelming, and often misleading, champions of Texas’ deregulated market say the competition keeps electricity costs lower.
Research shows that the deregulated market has, at the very least, been a boon to the retail electric industry by decreasing the wholesale cost of power by $3 billion per year, according to a study from the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago. (The researchers have not studied if those savings trickle down to customers’ bills.)
Despite lower rates, Texans still have some of the highest power costs in the country because of their high consumption. The average annual electricity cost per household in Texas is among the highest in the country, $1,632, compared with a national average of $1,368, according to the Energy Department. That’s typical for warm-weather states, where power consumption is higher because residents rely heavily on air conditioning.
Nearly 20 percent of household energy consumption in Texas comes from air conditioning, as compared with just 6 percent for the average American household.
Despite lower rates, Texans still have some of the highest power costs in the country because of their high consumption.