y-axis

US electricity (EIA)

Monthly US retail electricity sales from EIA Form EIA-861M since 2010: commercial-sector sales in Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, New York, California and the whole US; the all-sector total of each of those states; and derived series for Virginia's share of US commercial sales and for sales per commercial customer.

Data centres pay commercial electricity rates, but so does every shop and office. No chart here counts data centres alone. ⚠ Virginia's growth starts in 2021, before ChatGPT: cloud computing and AI both drive it, and this data cannot separate them.

cadence · monthly 15 series updated 14 Aug 2026 www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861m/ ↗
release markers

Virginia's share of US commercial sales derived

5.6% of US commercial sales +2.4% yr as of May 2026
012345201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss
Virginia's commercial electricity sales divided by all US commercial electricity sales, for the last 12 months.

Commercial electricity sales

Virginia

7.2M MWh +8.3% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Ohio

5.2M MWh +13.4% yr as of May 2026
01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Georgia

4.9M MWh +4.7% yr as of May 2026
01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M6.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Arizona

3.6M MWh +13.0% yr as of May 2026
01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

New York (control)

5.3M MWh −3.0% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss
Not a data-centre state. This chart is a control. Commercial electricity sales in New York fell since 2015.

California (control)

9.1M MWh −3.2% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M12.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss
Not a data-centre state. This chart is a control. Commercial electricity sales in California fell since 2015.

United States

124M MWh +3.4% yr as of May 2026
020.0M40.0M60.0M80.0M100M120M140M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

All-sector totals

Each chart here adds all five sectors. If commercial sales rise but the total does not, a utility only moved customers between billing classes.

Virginia, all sectors

11.5M MWh +5.9% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M12.0M14.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Ohio, all sectors

13.0M MWh +6.3% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M12.0M14.0M16.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Georgia, all sectors

12.2M MWh +0.6% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M12.0M14.0M16.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Arizona, all sectors

8.3M MWh +9.4% yr as of May 2026
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

United States, all sectors

320M MWh +2.4% yr as of May 2026
0100M200M300M400M201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss

Derived

Virginia derived

189.4 MWh per customer +4.7% yr as of May 2026
050100150200250201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss
Virginia's commercial electricity sales for the last 12 months, divided by the number of commercial customers.

United States derived

77.2 MWh per customer +2.6% yr as of May 2026
020406080201020122014201620182020202220242026Copilot GAClaude 3GPT-5 / gpt-oss
US commercial electricity sales for the last 12 months, divided by the number of commercial customers. This chart is a control.

Figures

SeriesLatestChangeMinMaxCoverage
VirginiaMWh7.2M+8.3% yr3.4M8.2MJan 2010 — May 2026
OhioMWh5.2M+13.4% yr3.0M5.6MJan 2010 — May 2026
GeorgiaMWh4.9M+4.7% yr3.0M5.7MJan 2010 — May 2026
ArizonaMWh3.6M+13.0% yr1.9M4.0MJan 2010 — May 2026
New York (control)MWh5.3M−3.0% yr4.8M7.6MJan 2010 — May 2026
California (control)MWh9.1M−3.2% yr6.5M12.4MJan 2010 — May 2026
United StatesMWh124M+3.4% yr91.4M144MJan 2010 — May 2026
Virginia, all sectorsMWh11.5M+5.9% yr7.5M14.3MJan 2010 — May 2026
Ohio, all sectorsMWh13.0M+6.3% yr9.9M16.2MJan 2010 — May 2026
Georgia, all sectorsMWh12.2M+0.6% yr8.9M16.0MJan 2010 — May 2026
Arizona, all sectorsMWh8.3M+9.4% yr4.7M11.0MJan 2010 — May 2026
United States, all sectorsMWh320M+2.4% yr262M408MJan 2010 — May 2026
Virginia's share of US commercial sales5.6%+2.4% yr3.5%5.6%Dec 2010 — May 2026
VirginiaMWh per customer189.4+4.7% yr107.1241.3Dec 2010 — May 2026
United StatesMWh per customer77.2+2.6% yr66.977.7Dec 2010 — May 2026
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