5 Consumption and Sales
Electricity Sales in Alaska, 2011-2019
5.1 General Overview
The data presented in this section is from calendar years 2011 to 2019. More recent data has been omitted due to issues with data completeness and validity.
Across the state, electricity sales (herein referred to as consumption), has fallen when comparing the 2011 and 2019 calendar years. To visualize this trend, we look at the percentage changes from 2011 to 2019 in electricity consumption by customer class (Figure 5.1). We highlight the following customer class definitions:
- Residential: Residential electric customers
- Commercial: Commercial electric customers
- Other: For EIA reported data, the Other group includes industrial and transportation customers. For PCE reported data, it includes community and government accounts. No industrial accounts were reported in the PCE data.
Statewide electricity consumption growth for the residential sector was -10.86% from 2,141 GWh in 2011 to 1,909 GWh in 2019. The commercial sector growth was -6.34% from 2,758 GWh in 2011 to 2,583 GWh in 2019. Finally, Statewide electricity consumption growth for the ‘Other’ customer class was -7.46% from 1,378 GWh in 2011 to 1,275 GWh in 2019.
We also examine the change in the number of customer accounts across the state. The total number of customer accounts in the state increased 6.15% from approximately 326,402 to 346,476. We plot the percentage increases in customer accounts by category in Figure 5.2. Residential accounts across the state increased 5.22% from approximately 275,473 to 289,843. The number of commercial accounts across the state increased 11.77% from 46,411 to 51,875. Finally, the number of other accounts across the state has increased 14.87% from approximately 4,518 to 5,190.
Figure 5.3 shows the average annual electricity consumption for each of the regions. The Coastal region led the state in consumption per capita, with an average of 8,980 kWh per customer per year. This was followed by the Railbelt region with 7,118 kWh per capita and the Rural Remote region with 4,868 kWh per capita. Overall, each region has seen reductions in consumption per capita, which may reflect improvements in energy efficient technologies and energy efficiency/conservation behaviors.
5.2 Coastal
To estimate the average yearly growth rate in each customer class, we calculate the cumulative compound average growth rate (CAGR). From 2011 to 2019, the coastal region saw an average yearly growth rate of -0.56% for residential sales, -0.63% for commercial sales, and -0.76% for all other sales. Figure 5.4 shows these sales in GWh for each year.
While customer sales fell overall, customer accounts in the Coastal region increased for all customer classes. Figure 5.5 shows the trend in customer accounts by class for the Coastal region. The average yearly growth rate in customer accounts was 0.55% for the residential class, 1.43% for the commercial class, and 0.73% for the other class.
5.3 Railbelt
From 2011 to 2019, the Railbelt region saw an average yearly growth rate of -1.71% for residential sales, -1.27% for commercial sales, and -1.31% for all other sales. Figure 5.6 shows these sales in GWh for each year.
The trends in the number of customer accounts by class are visualized in Figure 5.7. The average yearly growth rate in customer accounts on the Railbelt was 0.6% for the residential class, 1.37% for the commercial class, and -1.64% for the other class.
5.4 Rural Remote
From 2011 to 2019, the Rural Remote region saw an average yearly growth rate of -0.43% for residential sales, 2.88% for commercial sales, and 2.7% for all other sales. Positive growth rates for the commercial and other customer classes are unique to the rural remote energy region as all other regions saw average yearly declines in sales. Figure 5.8 shows these sales in GWh for each year.
The trends in the number of customer accounts by class are visualized in Figure 5.9. The average yearly growth rate in customer accounts in the Rural Remote region was 1.14% for the residential class, 1.52% for the commercial class, and 2.79% for the other class.