Generating electricity is a declining business because people are buying less of the product. The majority of electric power is consumed by the industry, not by households. Yes, there are power savings in every home. But even those savings are limited in nature. I have an A/C and electric heaters, and I use them as necessary because the LNG is even more expensive. I do not need a 400W halogen floor lamp anymore because I'm using a 20W CFL instead. But the electric oven, and the microwave, and my electric water heater, and my well water pump are consuming far more energy.
Still, as I said, the industry should consume even more energy. When at Home Depot look up - how many lights do you see there? (certainly not four.) When at a grocery store, look at those refrigerators that everyone opens and closes all the time. When at a pizza place, look at their oven. But, of course, all that is dwarfed by *real* industry - production of steel, aluminum, and other metals. OK, "should" be dwarfed by that, since hardly any such facility remains on the US land. And that's what is driving the decline of energy use - the decline of heavy industry.
And that's what is driving the decline of energy use - the decline of heavy industry. I think you're right. That and the already ridiculously high prices for electricity make us ever more aware of our usage.
I think McCain was right. We needed to build nuclear plants and lots of them.
"The majority of electric power is consumed by the industry, not by households." Not true.
If you look at total quads, residential is larger. If you look just at electricity, residential is still larger.
But the point is moot, because the same factors that are improving efficiency in homes are doing the same in commercial and industrial users. Only moreso in some cases, such as the shift from pneumatic and hydraulic power to electric motors controlled by highly-efficient variable speed drives that actually reduce energy consumption in comparison with wasteful mechanical systems and transmissions.
Energy efficiency is good. If for no other reason that it means our coal will last longer.