Energy is a critical component of every aspect of Washington's economy and is used daily by every resident of the state to meet the most basic human needs. Energy lights and heats our homes, cooks our food, fuels our vehicles, and powers our industries. Without it, our society would literally grind to a halt. But few of us have a thorough understanding of key trends taking place in this crucial industry. This section presents a series of 25 "Energy Indicators", illustrating some of the most important long-term energy trends. Each indicator consists of a chart based on readily available energy, economic, and demographic information, a caption highlighting key trends depicted in the chart, and narrative giving additional perspective or describing further aspects of the indicator.

The Energy Indicators are the successor to the Washington State Energy Use Profile, published periodically in the past by the Washington State Energy Office, most recently in June of 1996. They complete the evolution begun with the last Profile away from the dissemination of raw data, most of which is publicly available from other sources, towards a product that combines and interprets energy data in a format that is, we hope, more interesting and informative for policy-makers, the media, and the general public.

In order to ensure that the Energy Indicators presented here are grounded in the best available information and can be updated on a regular basis, they are based exclusively on regularly published data from sources in the public domain. The Energy Information Administration’s State Energy Data Report and State Energy Price and Expenditure Report are the most complete sources of annual, state-level energy data. They form the foundation upon which the Energy Indicators are based. Unfortunately, collecting and publishing detailed statistics on energy consumption, price, and expenditures for fifty states and the District of Columbia is an enormous task, so information from these sources tends to lag by two to three years. Consequently, the Energy Indicators are confined to analysis of long-term energy trends.

Additional sources of data employed in this report include the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington State University Energy Program, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and numerous additional EIA publications.