FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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Stephen Buckner/Joanna Gonzalez | CB04-CN.08 | ||
Public Information Office | |||
(301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax) | Detailed tables: | ||
(301) 457-1037 (TDD) | State | County | Place [Excel Format] | ||
e-mail: pio@census.gov | Graphic: Historical Energy Use | ||
Cranking Up the Furnace | |||
Gas
Most Popular Home Heating Fuel, Census Bureau Survey Shows American Community Survey Looks At How Americans Heat Their Homes |
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As “old man winter” prepares to take hold across most of the nation, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data today showing that more than half of U.S. homes use gas as their heating fuel. The American Community Survey showed that in 2003 nearly 62 million homes (57.0 percent) used utility, bottle, tank or LP gas as their heating fuel. The second most popular home heating source was electricity, used by 33.9 million homes (31.3 percent). Among other fuel sources, fuel oil and kerosene were used by about 8.6 percent of households nationwide, mostly in northern states. “Annual data from the American Community Survey should improve how energy officials and local utility companies plan for seasonal peaks in fuel consumption,” said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. “Utility companies will be able to use these and other Census Bureau data to forecast the need for additional power facilities and utility networks.” According to the survey, states with some of the highest percentages of households using gas to heat their homes were Utah (88.5 percent), Michigan (86.9 percent), Illinois (86.7 percent), Iowa (82.3 percent) and Colorado (80.2 percent). However, states with warmer climates were more likely to use electricity, with more than 35 percent of the nation’s households using this fuel source concentrated in just three states: Florida, Texas and California. Among the states electricity was used most widely in were Florida (89.5 percent), South Carolina (61.8 percent), Arizona (58.0 percent), Tennessee (53.9 percent) and Washington (52.5 percent). About 75 percent of the households across the
nation that use fuel oil to keep warm during the winter were in northeastern
states and Alaska. Use was most common among households in the six New
England states: Maine (79.2 percent), New Hampshire (57.3 percent), Vermont
(57.0 percent), Connecticut (50.1 percent), Rhode Island (41.4 percent)
and Massachusetts Other highlights:
The new American Community Survey (ACS) is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to keep pace with the country’s ever-increasing demands for timely and relevant population and housing data. After it is fully implemented in January 2005, it will provide current demographic, housing, social and economic information about America’s communities every year — information previously available only once every 10 years. The American Community Survey data are based on responses from a sample of households across the nation. As with all surveys, the estimates and rankings may vary from the actual values because of sampling or nonsampling variations. The statistical statements have undergone testing, and comparisons are significant at the 90 percent confidence level. Additional information and data profiles for the nation, states, counties and places may be accessed at <http://www.census.gov/acs> or <http://factfinder.census.gov>. - X -
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