Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA, Census Bureau · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Who heats with electricity where it is cold in California?

263,319homes in California heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

18 of 58 California counties average at least 4,000 heating degree days in a normal year, and 28% of their 955,358 occupied homes heat mainly with electricity. That is 2.0% of all 13,434,847 California homes. Rank 22 of 35 by count, 34 by share. Fresno County holds the most: 114,343 electric-heated homes at 4,059 heating degree days.

Where California sits among the states

Share of homes that heat with electricity in cold counties, by state, one tile per stateAlaska: no data in this seriesAKMaine: 10.1% of homesMEVermont: 8.1% of homesVTNew Hampshire: 10.7% of homesNHWashington: 57.7% of homesWAIdaho: 35.0% of homesIDMontana: 26.6% of homesMTNorth Dakota: 39.9% of homesNDMinnesota: 18.8% of homesMNIllinois: 18.2% of homesILWisconsin: 17.3% of homesWIMichigan: 11.6% of homesMINew York: 14.4% of homesNYRhode Island: 12.1% of homesRIMassachusetts: 17.9% of homesMAOregon: 53.1% of homesORNevada: 8.7% of homesNVWyoming: 23.3% of homesWYSouth Dakota: 32.6% of homesSDIowa: 24.3% of homesIAIndiana: 30.7% of homesINOhio: 25.6% of homesOHPennsylvania: 24.8% of homesPANew Jersey: 15.6% of homesNJConnecticut: no data in this seriesCTCalifornia: 2.0% of homesCAUtah: 16.4% of homesUTColorado: 25.2% of homesCONebraska: 31.2% of homesNEMissouri: 37.0% of homesMOKentucky: 49.5% of homesKYWest Virginia: 45.5% of homesWVVirginia: 32.2% of homesVAMaryland: 42.6% of homesMDDelaware: 37.0% of homesDEArizona: 0.9% of homesAZNew Mexico: 13.1% of homesNMKansas: 26.5% of homesKSArkansas: 1.9% of homesARTennessee: 9.9% of homesTNNorth Carolina: 5.6% of homesNCSouth Carolina: 0.0% of homesSCDistrict of Columbia: no data in this seriesDCOklahoma: 0.5% of homesOKLouisiana: 0.0% of homesLAMississippi: 0.0% of homesMSAlabama: 0.0% of homesALGeorgia: 0.4% of homesGAHawaii: no data in this seriesHITexas: 0.1% of homesTXFlorida: 0.0% of homesFL

Darker is a larger share. California is outlined.

California: cold counties and electric heat

California cold counties, electric heating
Fresno County322,16335.5114,3434,059-5%43.4
Placer County155,42224.638,2354,587-4%14.5
Tulare County142,02622.231,4614,379-3%11.9
Shasta County71,47332.623,3004,304-5%8.8
El Dorado County75,71921.616,3474,541-4%6.2
Humboldt County54,87816.99,2894,097-3%3.5
Nevada County41,87315.56,4994,992-4%2.5
Del Norte County9,62161.65,9314,728-2%2.3
Siskiyou County18,90731.15,8865,999-4%2.2
Tuolumne County22,80920.64,7085,591-4%1.8
Trinity County5,37328.61,5354,908-5%0.6
Lassen County9,06016.91,5306,660-3%0.6
Mariposa County7,51517.01,2814,165-4%0.5
Mono County5,52118.31,0127,496-4%0.4
Plumas County8,05511.79426,430-3%0.4
Modoc County3,26425.28226,745-5%0.3
Sierra County1,20612.11466,513-3%0.1
Alpine County47311.0527,591-4%0.0

18 cold counties, ranked by electric-heated homes. All counties, CSV.

Where the electric-heated homes are

The 3 largest counties, Fresno County, Placer County, Tulare County, hold 70% of the 263,319 electric-heated homes in California cold counties. The highest electric-heat share among cold counties with 5,000+ homes is Del Norte County at 62%. In the 40 milder California counties the share is 29%, against 28% in the cold ones. The coldest, Alpine County, averages 7,591 heating degree days; California as a whole averages 2,495 when weighted by homes.

electric-heated homes, California cold counties, 12 largest

  • Fresno County114,343
  • Placer County38,235
  • Tulare County31,461
  • Shasta County23,300
  • El Dorado County16,347
  • Humboldt County9,289
  • Nevada County6,499
  • Del Norte County5,931
  • Siskiyou County5,886
  • Tuolumne County4,708
  • Trinity County1,535
  • Lassen County1,530

California: the 10 coldest counties

Alpine County is coldest at 7,591 heating degree days with 11% electric heat. The 10 coldest hold 23,132 electric-heated homes.

California 10 coldest counties
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Alpine County47311.07,5917,265
Mono County5,52118.37,4967,226
Modoc County3,26425.26,7456,421
Lassen County9,06016.96,6606,447
Sierra County1,20612.16,5136,288
Plumas County8,05511.76,4306,249
Siskiyou County18,90731.15,9995,782
Tuolumne County22,80920.65,5915,352
Nevada County41,87315.54,9924,797
Trinity County5,37328.64,9084,674

California: where electric heat is most common

Among counties with 2,000+ homes, Del Norte County is highest at 62% and San Diego County is 10th at 34%.

California 10 counties with the highest electric heat share
CountyHomesElectric, %Normal HDDRecent HDD
Del Norte County9,62161.64,7284,628
Imperial County48,84452.6952850
Monterey County132,04642.72,7582,627
Lake County26,36440.13,5913,435
Sacramento County568,22338.02,4042,255
Colusa County7,46636.92,6912,553
Fresno County322,16335.54,0593,857
Santa Clara County654,46735.32,9072,757
San Francisco County362,65034.72,9092,745
San Diego County1,159,82234.12,0191,886

Winter disconnections and price in California

California utilities logged 0.20 disconnections per 100 residential accounts a month in December to February 2024 and 0.26 in June to August.

At the 2025 average residential price of 32.54 cents a kWh, 1,000 kWh costs 325 dollars in California.

California in the ranking

Kansas is 20th with 307,442 homes (26.5% of its homes). Tennessee is 21st with 274,094 homes (9.9% of its homes). Nebraska is 23rd with 245,560 homes (31.2% of its homes). Idaho is 24th with 243,011 homes (35.0% of its homes).

California beside 3 neighbors

California neighbors with a winter page
NeighborElectric homesShare, %Avg HDD
Arizona26,0470.9%1,788
Nevada102,4038.7%3,600
Oregon904,33253.1%5,563

Look up your California county

  • Pick your California county.

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Sources

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Questions

How many California homes heat with electricity in cold counties?

263,319 homes, 2.0% of 13,434,847 occupied California homes, in 18 counties averaging 4,000+ heating degree days.

Which California county has the most electric-heated homes among its cold counties?

Fresno County, with 114,343 of its 322,163 homes (36%) at 4,059 normal heating degree days.

Which California county is the coldest, and how many of its homes heat with electricity?

Alpine County, at 7,591 normal heating degree days: 52 of 473 homes (11%).

How far did the last decade run from the California normal?

California cold counties averaged 3.9% below their 1991-2020 heating degree days over 2016-2025.

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263,319 homes in California heat mainly with electricity in counties that are cold in a normal year

Cite this page

Underlying data are U.S. government works (EIA, Census Bureau). Our tables and charts: CC BY 4.0, credit Electric Consumer. The access date fills in when you open this page.

APA

Electric Consumer. (2026). California winter exposure: 263,319 electric-heated homes in cold counties. Data as of 9 October 2026. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/california.html

MLA

Electric Consumer. “California winter exposure: 263,319 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Electric Consumer, data as of 9 October 2026, https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/california.html. Accessed 9 October 2026.

Chicago

Electric Consumer. “California winter exposure: 263,319 electric-heated homes in cold counties.” Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/california.html.

BibTeX

@misc{usedata_winter_states_california,
  author = "Electric Consumer",
  title = {California winter exposure: 263,319 electric-heated homes in cold counties},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://electricconsumer.org/winter/states/california.html},
  note = {Data as of 9 October 2026. Accessed 9 October 2026}
}
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