Electric Generation Leads U.S. Gas Consumption
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says the 7% increase in natural gas consumption between 1997 and 2011 has overshadowed the fact that gas usage for electric power generation has exceeded industrial consumption since early 2009. Industrial consumption now ranks second, followed by the residential and commercial sectors.
EIA explained that “power burn” has been facilitated by ample gas supplies, declining prices, and the fact that power plants have added a large amount of gas-fired generating units in the last decade, many of them efficient combined-cycle units.
“Recently, with natural gas prices declining and coal prices rising, using natural gas generators in some parts of the country has become increasingly competitive with running coal generators,” EIA said. “Competition between natural gas and coal first appeared in the southeastern U.S., where coal-fired power was more expensive due to the cost of transporting coal over long distances.”
For more information: www.eia.gov
