Growth in electricity usage:

• The average size of a new home in the South increased 47 percent between 1973 and 2004 (from 1,670 square feet to 2,463).
  
  
• Townhomes, condos and apartments have grown in size as well. In 1970, 44 percent were over 1,000 square feet; by 2004, the figure had grown to 66 percent.
  
  
• The percentage of homes using electricity as the primary heating source has increased from 10.8 percent in 1970 to 48.8 percent in 2000.
  
  
• The use of air conditioning in Southern homes has grown from 69 percent of homes in 1980 to 95 percent in 2001.
  
  
• The number of vacation homes in North Carolina has grown at a faster rate than the actual population growth, from 36,000 in 1960 to 136,000 today.
  
  
• Today's large-screen plasma TVs consume more energy than an average refrigerator, which was once the third-largest consumer of electricity in the home.
  
  
• Over the last two decades, the percentage of U.S.-consumed energy provided by electricity has increased from 23 percent to 35 percent.