Residential Sector Electricity Use
In the absence of Reservation-specific data for residential electricity usage, the values were estimated
using national averages provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA reported
that, in 2020, the average household in the western United States consumed approximately 8,608 kWh
of electricity per year (EIA, 2023). The Covid-19 pandemic may have influenced this average electricity
use slightly, but the previous EIA residential energy use survey was completed in 2015, and this was
believed to be too outdated to include in this report. With 458 homes on the Reservation, this EIA
average was used to estimate a total residential electricity usage of 3,942,464 kWh annually, resulting in
emissions of 908 MTCO2e (EPA, 2010).
Stationary Point Sources
A point source is a single, identifiable source of pollution, such as a large facility that emits pollution
from a single place. Sources that are geographically numerous and difficult to keep track of (i.e., gas-
fired water heating tanks) are considered non-point sources. There are no identifiable point sources on
the Pala Reservation, so this section is intentionally left blank.
Stationary Non-Point Sources
Non-point sources are any source of pollution which is outside of the definition of point sources in the
above section. A stationary non-point source of GHGs is one that is not mobile, but too many to count
individually or keep track of easily. The sources that are estimated and included in this section are
propane heaters and water boilers, and small electricity generators.
Generator Sources
There is one generator located at the Casino and two at the Administration building in case of
emergencies such as blackouts. At the time this inventory was created there was no data available on
the fuel consumption or annual use of these generators, so they are not included in the inventory
calculations. In preparation for the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) emissions inventory, data
will be collected on all non-point sources such as generators.
Commercial Sector Propane Use
Within the Pala Reservation, all facilities use propane gas for cooking and heating. PED conducted an
emissions inventory (EI) in 2011 which provides facility propane use data for 2010. Since then, new
facilities have been established, and the CBECS estimation was used to generate estimates of their
annual propane consumption. Facilities propane use emissions included in the Pala Reservation 2011
emissions inventory were within an acceptable range of the CBECS estimation for the same buildings, so
the original values were included in this inventory for completeness. The buildings included in the 2011
EI are the administration building, fitness center, day care, boys and girls club, fire station, utilities,
cultural center, law office, and mini mart. The propane use of these buildings totaled 24,245 gallons of
propane amounting to emissions of 139.23 MTCO2e (EPA, 2010).
For the remaining commercial buildings that were not included in the above-mentioned 2011 EI, the
CBECS estimation method was used to generate estimates. Emissions from these buildings totaled 2,331
MTCO2e (EPA, 2023), and the calculations are outlined in the below table.