How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates in the Annual Energy Outlook 2021 that in 2020, the U.S. residential and commercial sectors combined used about 219 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity for lighting. This was about 8% of total electricity consumption by both of these sectors and about 6% of total U.S. electricity consumption.
Residential sector electricity consumption for lighting was about 62 billion kWh or about 4% of total residential sector electricity consumption and about 2% of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2020.
The commercial sector, which includes commercial and institutional buildings, and public street and highway lighting, consumed about 157 billion kWh for lighting in 2020, equal to about 12% of total commercial sector electricity consumption and about 4% of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2020. EIA does not have an estimate of electricity use specifically for public street and highway lighting.
In 2014, about 55 billion kWh were consumed for facility lighting in manufacturing facilities, which was equal to about 1.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2014.1
1 This is the most recent data available at the time that this FAQ was updated.
Learn more:
EIA projections for energy use in the residential and commercial sectors in Annual Energy Outlook, Reference case Tables 4 Table 5
Trends in Lighting in Commercial Buildings
Articles on lighting
Energy Explained: Use of electricity
Energy Explained: Energy use in homes
Energy Explained: Energy use in commercial buildings
Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)
Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)
U.S. Department of Energy market studies on lighting
Last updated: February 3, 2021
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