Monthly ZIP Code Electricity and Natural Gas Use in New York: 2016-2021

2016-2021 monthly electricity and natural gas consumption data aggregated at the ZIP code level for New York State. The dataset is collected under a regulatory order from the New York State Public Service Commission and is intended for community energy planning and greenhouse gas inventory development. Data fields are subject to privacy screening, with some withheld information.

Use Cases

• Analyze monthly electricity (MWh) and natural gas (therms) consumption trends across ZIP codes to identify seasonal patterns and energy efficiency opportunities.
• Develop community-scale greenhouse gas emissions inventories by correlating energy use data with ZIP code-level demographic or building stock information.
• Plan and evaluate Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs by modeling load and capacity requirements based on historical ZIP code consumption.
• Assess the impact of specific energy policies or projects by comparing pre- and post-implementation energy use within affected ZIP code areas.

Strengths

• Provides six years of consistent monthly data (2016-2021) under a single reporting protocol.
• Covers two major energy types (electricity and natural gas) at a granular ZIP code geography for New York State.
• Data collection is mandated by a regulatory order (Case 17-M-0315), ensuring systematic utility reporting.

Limitations

• Data from 2021 onward follows a different protocol, limiting direct longitudinal analysis beyond 2021 without methodological reconciliation.
• Privacy screening results in the withholding of specific data fields, which may create gaps or reduce granularity for some ZIP codes.
• The dataset's utility for detailed analysis may be limited without complementary data on ZIP code demographics, building types, or weather patterns.

Provenance

Source

New York State utilities, aggregated and published by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) via the Utility Energy Registry.

Collection Method

Collected under a regulatory order requiring utilities to report aggregated, community-scale energy use data following a specific protocol.

Time Range

2016 to 2021

Freshness

Dataset metadata was last updated in July 2024, but the core data coverage ends in 2021.

Geography

ZIP codes within New York State