U.S. Energy Information Administration Independent Statistics & Analysis www.eia.gov

A vision for the 2020 RECS: 

Preparing for the next Residential Energy Consumption Survey

Webinar

July 11, 2019 at 3 p.m. EDT

Ian Mead, Office Director

Chip Berry, Survey Manager 

Kevin Jarzomski, Senior Analyst
Comments from Consumption Statistics Office Director 

Ian Mead

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Introducing the 2020 RECS: Purpose of today’s webinar

• Recap 2015 RECS and program innovations

• RECS and the Annual Energy Outlook

• 2020 RECS scope and key design features

• Collect user feedback on content 

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There are 3 major phases for each RECS

1) Household Survey to collect residential energy characteristics

2) Energy Supplier Surveys to collect monthly bills and bulk fuel deliveries

3) Energy end-use modeling and estimation 

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Household Survey includes over 200 items in a 

30-minute questionnaire

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Collect billing data from energy suppliers

• Request bills for each fuel used in the household

• Suppliers report in the way the records are kept

• Nearly 100% response

• Monthly bills are summed to produce annual 

consumption estimates

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Disaggregate annual fuel totals into energy end-use 

estimates

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11,677 kWh
2015 RECS featured two key innovations

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Web/mail forms Expanded end-use estimation program 
RECS microdata define the residential sector for Annual Energy 

Outlook (AEO) projections

• Number of existing housing units, geographic distribution, equipment stocks, 

and average annual equipment energy consumption used for base year of 

NEMS projections

– housing stock growth rates projected by separate Macroeconomic Activity model

– portion of housing stock and associated equipment assumed to retire each year

• RECS includes only energy consumption within occupied housing units, so 

gaps exist between RECS consumption and historical sector totals

– Unoccupied or vacation homes not included

– Multifamily common areas not included

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47%

6%

16%

15%

2015

38%

17% 9%

23%

2050

AEO2019 Reference case

Delivered end-use consumption shares change over time

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other uses other uses

space heating space heating

w space cooling ater heating space cooling

water heating

lighting

(4%)

lighting

(2%)
0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

indexed purchased electricity for lighting

index (2015=1.0)

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Driven by energy efficiency standards, improving technology, and 

reduced cost, lighting consumption is expected to continue dropping

AEO2019 Reference case

11
0

50

100

150

200

250

2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

residential solar PV generation

billion kilowatthours

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Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) generation expected to increasingly 

offset consumption of grid-purchased electricity

AEO2019 Reference case

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2020 RECS design based on confidence in Web/mail modes

• 3 pilot tests of Web/mail proved those modes are viable options for future 

RECS

• Despite lower response rates, Web/mail responds are representative of the 

nation’s households

• Web/mail data quality is comparable to traditional in-person response data 

quality

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RECS Pilot Web/Mail test vs. 

American Community Survey (ACS)

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2020 RECS to include largest sample ever; estimates for 

more than 20 states

• Goal is responses from 15,000 to 18,000 households

• 16 states from the 2009 RECS

– Northeast: MA, NY, PA, NJ 

– Midwest: MI, WI, IL, MO

– South: VA, GA, FL, TN, TX

– West: AZ, CO, CA

• Up to 9 more states chosen based on population, geography, climate, etc. 

• Option to provide some statistics for all 50 states and D.C.

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Larger sample means greater precision for all estimates

• More confidence in key subpopulations: rural households, newer homes, 

mobile homes, fuel oil, energy insecure households

• Jump-start analysis of emerging subpopulations

– Electric vehicles

– Geothermal heat pumps

– Solar PV

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Potential investments to close data gaps and pursue 

alternative data sources

• Explore a multifamily and mixed-use building study

• Collect and analyze smart meter data and data from in-home load 

disaggregation devices

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Motivations and criteria for updating Household Survey

• Add questions on emerging technologies

• Delete items less relevant or of poor quality

• Modify to improve response quality

• Where can we improve inputs for energy end-use modeling?

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Emerging technologies

• Add: Electric vehicle charging patterns and infrastructure

• Add: Solar PV capacity

• Add: Heat pump water heaters

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Space heating and air-conditioning

• Add: Heat pump type (geothermal, ductless mini-splits) 

• Add: Heat pump backup sources (electric resistance, gas furnace)

• Modify: improve quality of apartment heating and cooling responses

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Appliances and Electronics

• Add: Usage indicators for TV peripherals

• Modify: TV types (smart TVs, OLED)

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Energy programs

• Delete: Energy Star appliance questions

• Delete or modify: Energy program participation (appliance rebates, 

refrigerator recycling)

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Alternative square footage estimation techniques

• Trained interviewers measured homes according to strict protocol

• RECS square footage definition is unique and reflects energy-consuming 

space in homes; includes all basements

• How do we estimate square footage without widespread use of interviewers 

measuring homes?

• Alternative solutions include:

– Respondent estimates

– Administrative records

– Modeling

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Let’s continue this conversation! 

Comments on RECS encouraged...

• What three questionnaire updates would you like to see?

• How would a 50-state RECS impact your work?

Chip Berry

James.Berry@eia.gov

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Questions?

(Please submit them through the Chat box)

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Contact us!

• www.eia.gov/RECS/

• Chip Berry, Survey Manager

– James.Berry@eia.gov

• Kevin Jarzomski, Senior Analyst

– Kevin.Jarzomski@eia.gov

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For more information

U.S. Energy Information Administration homepage | www.eia.gov

Residential Energy Consumption Survey | www.eia.gov/recs

Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey | www.eia.gov/cbecs

Today in Energy | www.eia.gov/todayinenergy

Buildings Working Group materials | www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/workinggroup/buildings

Annual Energy Outlook | www.eia.gov/aeo

Short-Term Energy Outlook | www.eia.gov/steo

State Energy Data System | www.eia.gov/state/seds

Monthly Energy Review | www.eia.gov/mer

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