Residential Natural Gas Consumption: Evidence That Conservation Efforts to Date Have Failed
RICHARD L. LEHMAN 1 and
HENRY E. WARREN 2
1 Office of Ecology and Environmental Conservation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, Maryland 20852
2 Center for Climatic and Environmental Assessment, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Columbia, Missouri 65201
A new short-term natural gas consumption model is developed, tested against American Gas Association sales data, and applied to the question of the effectiveness of conservation efforts. The results indicate that unit residential gas-heating sales per heating degree-day have remained constant in four major gas-consuming regions during the period 1974 to 1976 and that heating sales have not been affected by the recent sharp changes in price.
Submitted on October 3, 1977