Electricity sales totaled nearly 3,765 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in 2007.  In 1879 the California Electric Light Company in San Francisco was the first public service electric utility and central generating station with sales of electricity to customers. The company sold only enough electricity to power 21 electric lights, a few kWh at most. From that first commercial venture electricity sales grew with sales in 2007 nearly 13 times greater than sales in 1950 (see chart below).

Total sales¹ increased 2.6 percent in 2007 over 2006 exceeding the 1.8 percent year average annual growth rate since 1996.  Percent increases in sales for each customer class were: Residential: 3 percent; Commercial: 5 percent; Industrial: 2 percent; Transportation: 11 percent.

Sales to residential and commercial customers were about equal in 2007. Sales (billion kWh) and the share (percent) of total sales for each customer class were: Residential: 1,392.24 (37); Commercial: 1,366.32 (36); Industrial: 1,027.83 (27); Transportation: 8.17 (0.2).

Investor-owned electric utilities sold 2,267.49 billion kWh, or 60 percent of the total electricity sold in 2007.  Sales by Public utilities were 15 percent of total sales, followed by Cooperatives at 10 percent, Energy Only Providers at 13 percent, and Federal Power Marketing Authorities at about 1 percent of total sales.

Electricity Sales by Customer Class, 1950 to 2007

Source: Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2007

Figure Data (XLS)

Major Trends

The shares of residential and commercial sales have increased over time, while the share of industrial sales has declined.  In 1950, sales to residential customers were 25 percent of total sales, sales to commercial customers were 23 percent of total shares, and sales to industrial customers were 50 percent of total sales. In 2007, residential sales were about 37 percent, commercial sales were 36 percent and industrial sales were 27 percent of total sales. Transportation sales have averaged about 0.2 percent of total sales.

Energy Only Providers (EOPs) in “restructured”² States increased market share, mainly to industrial and commercial customers.  In 1996, when only five States allowed a least some electricity consumers to select electricity suppliers, EOP sales totaled about 3.3 billion kWh, or about one percent of total sales in those States. In 2007, 20 States had various levels of customer choice and total EOP sales of 282.5 billion kWh (up from about 219 billion kWh in 2006), which was about 18 percent of total sales in those States and about 7.5 percent of the total sales in all States.  The majority of EOP sales in 2007 were to commercial and industrial customers, and within the restructured states, EOP’s supplied about 28 percent of industrial electricity sales, 25 percent of commercial sector sales, only 3 percent of residential sales, but 72 percent of sales to public transportation customers.

New York and Illinois have largest shares of EOP sales. New York and Illinois each had about twenty-two percent of all EOP sales in 2007, followed by Maryland at 9.5 percent, Massachusetts at 8.4 percent, and California at about 7 percent.  In New York and Illinois, EOP sales were about 42 percent of each State's total electricity sales. In New York, 66 percent of EOP sales were to commercial and 21 percent were to industrial customers. In Illinois, 62 percent of EOP sales were to industrial and 37 percent were to commercial customers.

1.Electricity sales are the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh; 1,000 Watt-hours) sold during a given period of time. Sales are classified here according to major types of customers buying the electricity: residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation.  Sales of electricity reflect most of the electricity consumed by those sectors, although some electricity is generated “on-site” and consumed directly, mostly at industrial facilities and commercial and institutional buildings.  Transportation sales are to electrified rail and urban public transportation systems where electricity is the main propulsive energy source.  Prior to 2003, EIA included electricity sales for public-street and highway lighting, public authorities, and railroads and railways in the category “Other.” In 2003, EIA assigned sales for public street and highway lighting and public authorities to the "Commercial" category and created "Transportation" as a new end-use category.

More information on this subject can be found in the following EIA publications:
       Electric Sales, Revenue and Price, 2007
       State Electricity Profiles
       Electric Power Annual
       Annual Energy Review