Households and commercial businesses account for about one-third of U.S. natural gas consumption.

Natural gas is used in apartments, houses, hotels, schools, hospitals, restaurants and other commercial endeavors for:

  • Space and water heating and clothes-drying
    • Natural gas is most popular fuel for home heating, according to the American Gas Association
    • Natural gas is the most-used fuel for home-heating in 3 out of 4 census regions, according to the Energy Information Administration
  • Cooking
    • Rapid, easy temperature control and self-cleaning, preferred by professional chefs
  • Outdoor appliances
    • Pool and jacuzzi heaters, fireplaces, barbecues, garage heaters and outdoor lights.
  • Dehumidification

RESIDENTIAL USE OF NATURAL GAS

  • Nearly 70 million homes in the U.S are heated using natural gas.
  • The number of homes heated with natural gas has increased 86% since 1970 but the overall consumption has remained flat due to better efficiency and the number of new homes in warm-weather regions.
  • American Gas Association, The Value of Natural Gas, May 2020

COMMERCIAL USE OF NATURAL GAS

  • Commercial entities that are natural gas customers represent a diverse mix of energy users that are essential to the U.S. energy economy and our daily lives.
  • More than 5.4 million commercial customers use natural gas for space and water heating
  • Schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, offices, restaurants, grocery stores, retail outlets and public halls
  • Commercial buildings account for about 3-4 percent of US natural gas use.
  • Used for lighting, space heating, ventilation, and cooling.
  • Natural gas use in the commercial buildings has grown 10 percent (weather-adjusted) during the last decade because the commercial sector has grown.
    • But the amount that commercial customers spend on energy has declined.
    • Average real price commercial customers paid for natural gas in 2016 dropped to the lowest level since 1975
    • In 2015, commercial customers’ utility bills reached a new low of $405 on average, the lowest since the American Gas Association began collecting data in 2003.