Black Americans are the largest minority race in the United States. They are also the third largest identifiable ethnic group, surpassed only by the English-Scots-Welsh group and people of German descent. Blacks outnumber American Indians, Japanese, and Chinese by 25 times or more. They are four times as numerous as Mexican-Americans and fifteen times the Puerto Rican population on the mainland (Table 7-1).

The number and characteristics of this large and important part of the population—one in ten Americans—have been shown in every decennial census since 1790. A separate volume of the 1960 and 1970 Census Bureau publications gives detailed statistics about blacks. Since the mid 1960's the Census Bureau has published an annual report describing the social and economic situation of blacks in the United States. Most federal agencies and many state and local agencies also collect and present statistics for blacks and others both regularly and in special studies. Data by race are now mandatory for assessing progress under civil rights statutes, so a wealth of information can be assembled about blacks.

Until now, however, no data have been available about household energy use by race—figures to show the way black households use energy compared to other households. The richest source of data for judging variations or likenesses in energy use can be derived by rough inference only. It exists in recent editions of the decennial Census of Housing, which show the housing characteristics of black and other households according to size and makeup, income class, and location. Aside from the occupants' demographic and economic characteristics the data cover such housing features as type and age of the structure, value or rent, number of rooms, plumbing facilities available, number of bathrooms, some details on home equipment, type of heating, and heating fuels used. However, this information does not compare household attributes with amount of energy used. The Washington Center's surveys fill this