LESS ENEGRY

Electronic devices are getting smaller and more energy-efficient. Every device, large or small, is connected to the internet and to the electricity grid, and smartphones are glued to the palms of our hands. Yet, Americans are using less electricity than we did 10 years ago.

Overall electricity sales to homes have declined 3% from 2010 to 2016, and 7% on a per capita basis, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Our numerous gadgets are all getting more efficient, so they’re less of a drain on residential electric bills. Our devices are also getting smaller.

Most TVs are now flat and require less energy to operate than the giant TVs of the past. TVs in general are also disappearing from American households, as Americans spend less time watching TV.

Instead, we spend more time online, increasingly on laptops and tablets (rather than bigger and less-efficient PCs). Most importantly, we’re spending more of our time on relatively tiny and energy-efficient smartphones.

Eventually, however, the quantity of rechargeable devices will work against efficiency gains, causing a net electricity consumption increase from 2030 to 2040, according to the EIA.

Also, much of our personal computing is being offloaded to the cloud — i.e. servers in data centers somewhere else. This electricity consumption —by the Facebooks, Googles and Amazons of the world, among other companies — is considered commercial electricity usage. There, too, we’re seeing efficiency gains, but our data demands will grow ever larger over the next 20 years.

So, while declines are expected to continue into the near future, the increased adoption of all types of electronic devices will eventually increase electricity consumption in both the residential and, more dramatically, the commercial sectors.