How many homes can a megawatt power?

Answer:
An average U.S. household uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. A watt is a unit of power, or energy per unit time, so it's the rate at which energy is being used. A kilowatt-hour (or 1000 watt-hours) is a unit of energy, so 10,000 kWh is how much total energy each household uses over the course of a year.

This means that each household, on average, uses energy at a rate of about 1 kilowatt (1000 watts, which equal to ten 100-watt light bulbs).

One megawatt is equal to one million watts, so for one instant, one megawatt can power 1000 homes.

A better question to ask is how many homes can a megawatt-hour (MWh) provide with energy for one hour? If one home needs 1 kWh of energy for one hour, then 1 MWh of energy can sustain 1000 homes for one hour.
First answer by Snoopyjc. Last edit by George Vergese. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor recommended]. Question popularity: 9 [recommend question].