The solution of constantly emerging complex and diverse social problems of the population associated with the steady improvement of the quality and standard of living of citizens directly depends on the long-term rates of economic growth and sustainable development of regional socio-economic systems. Economic theory has developed different approaches to solving problems related to increasing the economic growth of the country: from Malthusianism, Keynesianism, new classical and institutional theories to modern models of endogenous growth of Uzawa-Lucas, Agyon-Howitt and models of the spread of technology and the growing variety of goods. At the same time, they all consider various factors that have a significant impact on the ongoing processes leading to economic growth. This article attempts to identify such a factor, which in modern conditions is able to realize the internal potential of the Russian economy on the basis of available energy resources. A retrospective analysis of the development of the Russian state from the 1920s to the present determines the consumption of electric energy (energy consumption) as a factor of further socio-economic development of regional systems. As an evidence base, the author conducts a correlation analysis to establish the relationship between energy consumption and the gross regional product. The calculated Pearson correlation coefficient, as well as the data obtained, lead the author to the conclusion that the economic growth of regional socio-economic systems depends on the amount of energy consumption in the region, that is, the higher the energy consumption in energy-intensive regions of the country, the greater their share in gross value added. The opposite is also true when less energy-consuming regions of the country are practically unable to increase their gross regional product.