My home state’s Council on Environmental Quality’s annual report tracked a discouraging trend in power use, per capita, on the homefront — it’s going up.
Here’s a quotation from the report:
“Residents reversed course in 2010 and used more electricity at home. During the previous three years, the average Connecticut resident had been using less. Even during that period, according to the Connecticut Siting Council, many Connecticut residents who had been using electricity more efficiently on most days tended to use more during summer heat waves.
“The result had been slower growth in year-round electricity use but greater peak summertime consumption. The increase in summertime consumption has had significant environmental consequences.
“On the hottest days, Connecticut’s base-load power plants are unable to meet the additional demand, and older fuel-burning plants are brought on line. Because they are used sporadically, many of these older plants are permitted to operate with more lax pollution control requirements. As a result, state residents generate the most air pollution on the hottest summer days when air quality is already bad.”
See this site to read more. The report covers every aspect of the environment, not just personal energy use.
