From energy guru Andrew Weisman
It's just some interesting tidbits about U.S. electricity consumption. It's from an interview he gave to Bill Powers in the January 4th, 2004 edition of "Canadian Energy Viewpoint" on the North American natural gas market.
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Certainly, Bill. Demand for electricity in the U.S. tends to increase every year – typically at the rate of approximately 2.2% per year. Indeed, it is virtually impossible for the U.S. economy as it is currently structured to continue growing without increased demand for electricity. Typically, over the past 10 to 15 years, each 1% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results in a 0.70 to 0.75% increase in electricity consumption.
While it is possibly that the ratio can be gradually improved over time, given the time required to rollover the existing stock of electricity-consuming equipment and devices in the U.S., realistically it will take many years to improve this ratio to even 0.65 to 1 or 0.60 to 1. As a practical matter, therefore, either we must expand our supplies of electricity or the economy will need to stop growing; it’s that simple. It is sometimes said that electricity is the life blood of our economy, and that statement is true.
