Understanding Our Energy System - Part II: How Massachusetts Uses Energy

The previous edition examined where Massachusetts obtains its energy and this edition assesses how energy is used.

Total energy consumption includes gasoline and diesel used for transportation, natural gas and heating oil consumed in buildings, fuels used by industry and electricity delivered to customers. Electricity represents only one part of that total. That distinction produces a result that may surprise many readers: transportation is Massachusetts’ largest energy-consuming sector when all fuels are counted, while commercial customers are the largest users of electricity.

Total Energy Use

Massachusetts consumed approximately 1,290 trillion British thermal units of energy in 2024. Transportation represented about one-third of the total. Residential and commercial uses together accounted for more than half, while industry represented approximately one-tenth.

Figure 1. Massachusetts total energy use by sector, 2024. Transportation is the largest sector when all fuels are placed on a common energy basis. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, 2024.

Electricity Use

The ranking changes substantially when electricity is considered separately. Commercial and residential customers together account for approximately 88 percent of Massachusetts retail electricity consumption. Transportation, despite leading total energy use, remains a very small electricity user.

Figure 2. Massachusetts retail electricity use by sector, 2024. Commercial customers account for nearly half of retail electricity sales, while transportation remains a very small electricity user. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, 2024.

What Fuels Each Sector?

Looking beneath sector totals helps explain why transportation leads total energy consumption while commercial buildings lead electricity use.

Figure 3. Massachusetts energy use by sector and fuel, 2024. Transportation remains overwhelmingly petroleum-based, while residential and commercial sectors rely on a more diverse mix of natural gas, electricity, petroleum products and renewable or other sources.

The chart shows that transportation remains almost entirely dependent on petroleum, while residential and commercial buildings already rely on a broader mix of fuels, including substantial electricity use. Massachusetts is a relatively low-energy-consuming state on a per-capita basis, but that comparison requires care. States with refineries, steel mills or other heavy industry naturally use more energy per resident. Massachusetts’ lower per-capita use reflects, in part, the structure of its economy as well as climate, density and other factors.

The numbers nevertheless raise important questions for future issues: why electricity costs what it does, how the timing of electricity use affects the grid, how electrification changes demand, and how energy infrastructure can support both emissions reduction and economic development.