Energy
Charted: Home Heating Systems in the U.S.
Charted: Home Heating Systems in the U.S.
This was originally published on April 25, 2022, on Elements.
Fossil fuel combustion for the heating of commercial and residential buildings accounts for roughly 13% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
Decarbonizing the U.S. economy requires a switch from fossil fuel-combusting heating solutions to renewable energy sources that generate electricity.
Currently, the majority of new homes in the U.S. still combust natural gas for heating through forced-air furnaces or boilers. Just like cars need to be electric, homes will need to switch to electricity-powered heating systems that use renewable energy sources.
The graphic above uses census data to break down the different heating systems and fuels that are warming the 911,000 single-family homes built in the U.S. in 2020.
Types of Home Heating Systems
Most American homes use one of the following three heating systems:
- Forced-air Furnaces: These typically have a burner in a furnace that is fueled by natural gas. A blower forces cold air through a heat exchanger which warms it up before it flows through ducts that heat the home with air as the medium.
- Heat Pumps: The most common type of heat pumps are air-source heat pumps, which collect hot air from outside the home and concentrate it before pumping it through ducts that heat the air inside. They are usually powered by electricity. During warmer months, heat pumps can reverse themselves to cool the home, transferring hot air from the inside to the outdoors.
- Hot Water/Steam: These systems typically work by boiling water (or generating steam) to the appropriate temperature using gas and sending it through a home’s pipes to radiators that heat the air.
How Home Heating Fuels Have Changed
U.S. home heating has been going through a transition over the last two decades. Electricity has steadily been replacing gas and biofuel/wood-powered home heating systems for new homes, and powers almost half of the heating systems in single-family homes built in 2020.
Here’s how the share of heat sources for new houses changed between 2000 and 2020:
| Fuel | 2000 % of Heating for New Homes | 2020 % of Heating for New Homes |
|---|---|---|
| Gas | 70% | 55% |
| Electricity | 27% | 45% |
| Other | 4% | 1% |
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
While electricity’s share has grown since 2000, most American homes are still heated with gas largely because of the fossil fuel’s affordability.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), households relying on gas for space heating are expected to spend an average of $746 over the winter months, compared to $1,268 for electricity, and $1,734 for heating oil.
Heating in Newly-Built Houses Today
Of the 911,000 new single-family homes, 538,000 houses installed forced-air furnaces. Of these, 83% or nearly 450,000 homes used gas as the primary heating source, with 16% opting for electrified furnaces. By contrast, 88% of the 353,000 homes that installed heat pumps relied on electricity.
Here’s how the heating systems and fuels break down for single-family homes built in 2020:
| System Used | Houses Built in 2020 | % Powered by Gas | % Powered by Electricity | % Powered by Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forced-Air Furnace | 538,000 | 83% | 16% | <0.5% |
| Heat Pump | 353,000 | 12% | 88% | 0% |
| Hot Water/Steam | 8,000 | 89% | 5% | 7% |
| Other/None | 12,000 | 12% | 41% | 47% |
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Fewer than 1% of new single-family homes used hot water or steam systems, and the majority of those that did relied on gas as the primary fuel. Around 1.3% of new homes used other systems like electric baseboard heaters, smaller space heaters, panel heaters, or radiators.
While gas remains the dominant heating source today, efforts to decarbonize the U.S. economy could further prompt a shift towards electricity-based heating systems, with electric heat pumps likely taking up a larger piece of the pie.
Energy
The Dynamic Dozen: The 12 Largest Public Utilities in the U.S.
This bubble chart uses data from company reports to show which publicly-owned utility companies generate the most electricity in the U.S.
Dynamic Dozen: The 12 Largest Public Utilities in the U.S.
Public utilities are community-owned, non-profit organizations that supply electricity to local customers. Funded primarily through taxes and service revenues, public utilities are driven by a commitment to serve the public interest rather than generate profits.
In partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, we present the 2024 edition of our Annual Utility Decarbonization Index. The index uses the latest available data from company reports to track the decarbonization progress of the 47 largest investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in the United States.
And for the first time this year, the Index also includes a ranking of the 20 largest public utilities in the U.S. and which ones have the cleanest fuel mixes. So which public utilities contribute the most to the U.S. power grid?
The Top 12 Largest American Public Utilities
The two largest public utilities contributed nearly 30 million MWh each to the nation’s grid in 2022.
| Company | State | 2022 Total Owned Electricity Generation (MWh) |
|---|---|---|
| New York Power Authority | New York | 29,973,621 |
| Salt River Project | Arizona | 28,963,126 |
| CPS Energy | Texas | 25,946,058 |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | California | 19,846,221 |
| Santee Cooper (South Carolina Public Service Authority) | South Carolina | 18,984,737 |
| Lower Colorado River Authority | Texas | 14,860,017 |
| Nebraska Public Power District | Nebraska | 14,649,116 |
| MEAG Power | Georgia | 10,818,841 |
| JEA | Florida | 10,696,842 |
| Grant County, Public Utility District No. 2 | Washington | 10,278,983 |
| Energy Northwest | Washington | 10,139,460 |
| Omaha Public Power District | Nebraska | 9,335,877 |
The country’s largest public utility, the New York Power Authority, was founded in 1931 by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt before becoming President and today operates primarily on hydropower.
The runner-up for the highest-producing public utility is the Salt River Project in Arizona. It was founded in 1903 and provides nearly all of the Phoenix metropolitan area with electricity from a variety of sources.
Rounding off the top 10 is the Washington state-based Grant County PUD. The utility was founded in 1938 and today generates 100% of its electricity from hydropower.
Overall, public power accounts for 59% of the total number of utilities operating in the U.S. and provides electricity to two of the largest cities in the country, New York and Los Angeles. Many of the largest public utilities have operated for generations.
Download the 2024 Annual Utility Decarbonization Report
In 2022, 49% of the electricity generated by the top 20 public utilities came from carbon-free sources. For investor-owned utilities, it was 42%. Download the report to see the rest of the largest public utilities.
In addition to the public utilities, there’s much more to explore in the 2024 report, including:
- Inflation Reduction Act impacts
- Market trends for renewables
- Year-to-year progressions
- Fuel mix rankings for the largest public utilities
- Gas utility emissions rankings
Download the 2024 NPUC Annual Utility Decarbonization Report to find out everything you need to know about the clean energy transition in the U.S. power sector.
Energy
Ranked: America’s Cheapest Sources of Electricity in 2024
This dumbbell plot shows the most and least expensive sources of energy in the U.S., using data from Lazard.
America’s Cheapest Sources of Electricity in 2024
In the evolving global energy landscape, renewable sources are becoming increasingly cost effective. Even without subsidies, renewables are often the cheapest option available.
This chart, created in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, shows which electricity sources are the most and least expensive in 2024, using data by Lazard.
Onshore Wind and Solar: A Bargain with Subsidies
Onshore wind power effectively costs $0 per megawatt-hour (MWh) when subsidies included in the Inflation Reduction Act, such as the Investment Tax Credit, Production Tax Credit, and Energy Community Adder, are applied.
Demand for storage solutions is rising quickly. If storage is included, the minimum cost for onshore wind increases to $8 per MWh. Offshore wind, while more expensive, still presents a competitive option at a minimum of $71 per MWh with subsidies.
| Technology | Minimum With Subsidies | Minimum Without Subsidies | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onshore Wind | $0 | $27 | $73 |
| Onshore Wind + Storage | $8 | $45 | $133 |
| Offshore Wind | $71 | $74 | $139 |
| Solar PV | $6 | $29 | $92 |
| Solar PV + Storage | $38 | $60 | $210 |
| Geothermal* | $43 | $64 | $106 |
*2020 LCOE adjusted for inflation
Solar photovoltaics (PV) have similarly attractive economics.
With subsidies, the minimum cost is $6 per MWh. When including storage, $38 per MWh. Notably, the maximum cost of solar PV with storage has significantly increased from $102 in 2023 to $210 in 2024, although the cost of solar alone is still 83% cheaper in 2024 than it was in 2009, according to Lazard.
The inflation of 2022–2023 took a toll on solar PV and onshore wind, pushing their maximum unsubsidized costs back up to where they were in 2013 and 2015, respectively. However, solar PV dropped by $4 and onshore wind by $2 from 2023–2024.
Fossil Fuels
For gas-combined cycle plants, which combine natural gas and steam turbines for efficient electricity generation, the maximum price has climbed $7 year-over-year to $108 per MWh.
| Technology | Minimum With Subsidies | Minimum Without Subsidies | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas Combined Cycle | n/a | $45 | $108 |
| Coal* | n/a | $69 | $168 |
| Gas Peaking | n/a | $110 | $228 |
*2020 LCOE adjusted for inflation
Gas peaking plants, used to meet peak electricity demands, remain the most expensive option with a maximum cost of $228 per MWh. Interestingly, the minimum price for these plants has seen a slight dip from $115 to $110 per MWh compared to last year.
The Strange Case of Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy presents a unique cost structure with the highest minimum cost among all energy sources at $142 per MWh.
However, the economics improve significantly with lifetime extensions of nuclear plants. These extensions reduce the minimum marginal cost of nuclear electricity to $32 per MWh, a cost reduction that 95% of U.S. nuclear plants benefit from.
The cost dynamics of energy production are shifting towards renewables, driven by market forces, technological advancements, and government subsidies, according to Lazard. As renewables become cheaper, they are poised to play a dominant role in the future energy mix, providing both economic and environmental benefits.
Learn how the National Public Utilities Council is working toward the future of sustainable electricity.
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