"Because California has to a large extent moved away from heavy energy intensive industries"
There are always excuses, but, in the end, they are just excuses.
"Californians are paying more for energy then in most other states"
Our electric bills are lower, cuz, while it costs more, we use a lot less, thanks to 40 years of efficiency standards.
Since the 1970s, efficiency has saved nearly $90 billion on customers' energy bills and avoided at least 30 power plants. Eleven more plants are expected to be avoided over the next decade;Efficiency also helped keep per capita electricity use flat while the rest of the country increased by 50 percent since the 1970s;Since 2003, energy-cutting programs, building codes, and appliance standards have saved enough electricity to power more than half of California's homes for one year and enough natural gas to serve 2 million homes annually. Together, these efficiency savings have slashed 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution, equal to the emissions of 6 million cars;Annual low-income efficiency program savings have doubled since 2003, serving nearly 3 million households;Appliance standards have saved more than 10,000 GWh since 2003 (enough to power more than 2 million homes) and homeowners are expected to save $6,000 over 30 years for a house constructed in accordance with the 2013 building energy efficiency code compared with homes built to the previous code; andPublic investment in nearly 20 research, development, and demonstration projects is expected to yield almost $10 billion in savings between 2005 and 2025, which is nearly $450 for every $1 invested.
Thanks in part to efficiency, California spends less of its gross domestic product on electricity to power its homes and businesses than other states with comparable populations and economies, and is nearly twice as productive per unit of electricity consumed. In fact, if the state were as inefficient as Texas, Californians would be spending $9.5 billion more on electricity each year and $24 billion more if the state were as inefficient as Florida. Meanwhile, efficiency employment grew by 15 percent from 2002 to 2012 and more than 300,000 positions, or nearly 70 percent of California's green economy jobs, are related to improving energy efficiency in buildings alone.
nrdc.org
Over all, 46 states spend more for energy than we do. This is a bit old.
- Rankings: Total Energy Expenditures per Capita, 2013
Rank State Total Energy Expenditures per Capita
($) |
| 1 | North Dakota | 10,540 |
| | 2 | Alaska | 9,596 |
| | 3 | Wyoming | 9,358 |
| | 4 | Louisiana | 8,545 |
| | 5 | Texas | 6,114 |
| | 6 | Maine | 5,606 |
| | 7 | Iowa | 5,583 |
| | 8 | South Dakota | 5,569 |
| | 9 | Nebraska | 5,508 |
| | 10 | Montana | 5,452 |
| | 11 | Hawaii | 5,350 |
| | 12 | Mississippi | 5,268 |
| | 13 | Kansas | 5,267 |
| | 14 | Vermont | 5,196 |
| | 15 | Kentucky | 5,097 |
| | 16 | Indiana | 5,079 |
| | 17 | Oklahoma | 5,073 |
| | 18 | Alabama | 4,997 |
| | 19 | West Virginia | 4,794 |
| | 20 | Arkansas | 4,732 |
| | 21 | New Hampshire | 4,600 |
| | 22 | Minnesota | 4,554 |
| | 23 | South Carolina | 4,553 |
| | 24 | Tennessee | 4,452 |
| | 25 | Missouri | 4,421 |
| | 26 | New Jersey | 4,404 |
| | 27 | New Mexico | 4,387 |
| | 28 | Ohio | 4,334 |
| | 29 | Idaho | 4,317 |
| | 30 | Wisconsin | 4,304 |
| | 31 | Connecticut | 4,260 |
| | 32 | Pennsylvania | 4,230 |
| | 33 | Delaware | 4,165 |
| | 34 | Massachusetts | 4,149 |
| | 35 | Virginia | 4,145 |
| | 36 | Michigan | 4,107 |
| | 37 | Georgia | 4,004 |
| | 38 | Maryland | 3,868 |
| | 39 | Illinois | 3,824 |
| | 40 | Washington | 3,801 |
| | 41 | Utah | 3,791 |
| | 42 | North Carolina | 3,790 |
| | 43 | Oregon | 3,788 |
| | 44 | Colorado | 3,737 |
| | 45 | Rhode Island | 3,715 |
| | 46 | Nevada | 3,646 |
| | 47 | California | 3,563 |
| | 48 | Arizona | 3,434 |
| | 49 | District of Columbia | 3,378 |
| | 50 | Florida | 3,375 |
| | 51 | New York | 3,350
|
eia.gov |
