Electricity use in Maine. In 1960 the residential use of electricity was about 1 billion kilowatt-hours per year. In 2002 use increased to nearly 4 billion kwh per year. The increase is by a factor of four – much faster than population growth and much faster than growth in use of petroleum. The total use of electricity in Maine is about 12 billon kwh per year. Residential use is about one-third of the total. Divide that 12 billion by the population, and the per-person use of electricity is about 9,000 kwh per year. The annual national average is 12,000 kwh per year. We have high electric rates and small need for air conditioning.

Richard Hill is a retired professor emeritus of engineering at the University of Maine.