Division of Energy

Missouri Energy Expenditures at a Glance

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Missouri's Total Electricity Expenditures, 2007: Distribution by Sector

• In 2007, Missourians used about 85.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity for which they paid a total of about $5.6 billion at an average cost of 6.56 cents per kilowatt-hour.
• In 2007, Missouri ranked 19th among states in residential expenditures for electricity, 21st in commercial expenditures and 25th in industrial expenditures. Missouri ranked twenty-second in total expenditures for electricity.
• Residential consumers in Missouri paid about 49 percent of the state’s total electricity bill and consumed about 35.9 billion kwh, 42 percent of total usage. They paid an average price of 7.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, a 3.4 percent increase from the average price in 2006. 
• Commercial consumers paid about 35 percent of the state’s total bill and consumed about 31.1 billion kwh, 36 percent of total usage. They paid an average price of 6.3 cents per kwh, a 4.3 percent increase from the average price in 2006
• Industrial consumers paid about 16 percent of the state’s total bill and consumed about 18.5 billion kwh, 22 percent of total usage. They paid an average price of 4.8 cents per kwh, a 4.1 percent increase from the average price in 2006.  Large purchasers such as industrial firms pay lower electric rates than small purchasers for a variety of reasons including lower distribution costs and the ability of large customers to negotiate contractual arrangements or take advantage of special arrangements such as interruptible load agreements.

Increase in Missouri’s Total State Energy Bill, 1990-2007

• The state’s total electricity bill increased about 2.9 percent(measured as the compound annual growth rate) between 1990 and 2007, driven by a 59 percent increase in consumption. Within this overall pattern of increase in expenditures, electricity expenditures fell during three years, 1991-1992, 1998-1999, and2002-2003.  In each of these years, the reductions in the residential sector were greater than reductions in the industrial and commercial sectors.

• The graphs below show the overall trend in Missouri electricity expenditures per capita, electricity consumption per capita and electricity price per kilowatt-hour between 1990 and 2007.  Electricity expenditures are the product of price and level of consumption.  The graphs show that electricity expenditures have steadily increased since 1990, with the steepest increase between 2004 and 2007.  This increase in expenditures is caused by increases in per capita consumption.  Between 1990 and 2003 electricity prices saw a gradual decline each year, but recovered to 1990 levels between 2004 and 2007.

 

In the period between 2004 and 2007 per capita expenditures for electricity (adjusted for inflation in electricity prices) increased 13 percent across all sectors.  By sector, the increase was 21.3 percent for the industrial sector, 14.3 percent for the residential sector, and 7.9 percent for the commercial sector.  Over the same years, per capita consumption increased 12.8 percent.  By sector, the increase was 26.5 percent for the industrial sector, 11.8 percent for the residential sector, and 7.1 percent for the commercial sector.  During this period, inflation-adjusted prices per kilowatt-hour fell slightly, -0.9 percent across all sectors, and -6.0 percent for the industrial sector.  Inflation-adjusted prices increased for the residential sector (1.3 percent) and for the commercial sector (0.1 percent).

The inflation rate for electricity prices in Missouri was calculated by calculating the average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for electricity prices in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas.  CPI data for other Missouri cities and regions is not available.  The inflation rate for electricity prices for these two cities was -5.1 percent between 2000 and 2003 and 9.1% between 2004 and 2007 (see below).

Missouri’s electrical production comes primarily from fossil fuels.  In 2007, 88 percent of Missouri’s electricity was produced from coal, natural gas or petroleum -- 83 percent came from coal.  Missouri imports nearly all of these fuels.  Missouri can expect continued increases in demand, variation in supply and, most likely, increases in electricity prices.  The use of renewable energy sources, primarily from hydroelectric dams, but increasingly from wind, biomass and solar, may provide an increasing share of Missouri's electricity profile in the future. 

Statistics presented in this fact sheet are based on energy consumption, price and expenditure data from the State Energy Data System, SEDS, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, EIA.  EIA currently provides SEDS data only through the year 2007 and provides price and expenditure data using only nominal dollars rather than dollars that have been adjusted for inflation.  In addition to the SEDS data, EIA also provides more recent data on average residential, commercial and industrial electricity prices.

Data sources

The primary sources for data used in this overview are the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Census Bureau.