Burlington, Vt., and Madison, Wi., leaders in energy savings
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The analysis drew on real-time and historical electricity usage data for the homes over the course of 12 months.
Two cities known for collegiate life, Burlington, Vt., and Madison, Wi., lead the way in energy savings. Residents in Burlington use the least electricity of any major city bout one-fourth as much as homes in Phoenix, AZ, and half as much as Chicago residents.
Least electricity usage
Burlington, VT
Concord, CA
San Jose, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco-Oakland, CA
Madison, WI
San Diego, CA
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
California residents don't just talk the eco talk, they live it. Several California cities made the list for the least electricity use, including San Jose, San Francisco-Oakland, San Diego, and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area. The big cities of the Northwest, Portland and Seattle, are home to energy misers too, along with East Coast cities Boston and Providence.
Homes in hot, sunny Phoenix, AZ, use more electricity than any other city twice as much as Salt Lake City, UT, and more than three times as much as San Jose, CA. Homeowners in Texas cities Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio use about twice as much electricity as residents in Providence, RI, or Denver, CO.
This difference is partly due to the weather but also shows the opportunities for more efficient ACs, pool pumps and other home devices. ■