[eucalyptus]

When you are homeless you can't plug in a heater.

[supersonic]

It's probably not declining but staying steady

[aahala2]

As far as I know, the latest figures put out by the EIA is
the August 2008 electrical production. Compared to the same
month 2007, a decline. Could be a sign of the future, or simply
less A/C needed due to cooler weather. Both year's figures
still considered "preliminary".

Total year to year declines have been very uncommon in the
US since at 1950. The only years of decline I'm aware of
were 1982 and 2001. Both of course shared economic difficulties.

The RATE of US electrical demand increase has been declining for decades. The 1950 to 1960 increase was over 100%, 1990 to 2000 about 25% and since 2000 less than 10% so far.