The Empire State is also America's most energy-efficient.

New York tops a new list of the most efficient U.S. states in 2015 based on home- and car-energy consumption, followed by Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Utah.

Warm-weather states rounded out the bottom of the list – compiled by the personal finance site WalletHub – with South Carolina finishing last, preceded by Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Arkansas. (Alaska and Hawaii were not counted due to "data limitations.")



Americans typically spend about $2,000 a year on their electricity bills, according to the Energy Information Administration. Close to half of that goes toward heating and air conditioning, the Energy Department says. with the rest going toward things like lighting, refrigeration, water heaters and various electronic devices.

The Obama administration and many states have promoted energy-efficiency programs to tamp down electricity demand, head off costly upgrades to the electrical grid and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming. The expansion of home solar panels, which helped make solar one of the fastest-growing sources of new electricity generation in 2014, has also helped shave demand from the grid and make homes more efficient.



The results released Monday measured home energy efficiency by dividing states' per capita residential energy consumption by energy demand for heating and cooling, and vehicle efficiency by dividing the annual number of miles driven by the gallons of gasoline consumed.