According to a study by the Washington Post, our area's electricity consumption dropped by a small but perceptible amount in the first nine months of 2008, as compared to 2007. The article linked to above describes the sources of data as being a mix of home audits in Arlington County, Virginia (40 out of 89,000 total), government figures for the number of miles driven on local roads, and utility billing information. Overall, the Post estimates a 2% reduction for the study period in 2008 as compared to the previous year. Now, the question is, Why? By their reckoning, it's likely to be a mix of increased consciousness of "green" energy practices, increased use of compact fluorescent light bulbs, and perhaps most importantly: mild weather.

One thing I can say about that lattermost factor: this year, 2009, is so far not really of the "mild weather" variety. It's dang cold here!

Labels: dc, energy, environmental, maryland, news, virginia