U.S. coal used for the steelmaking process has sold for more than double the price of U.S. coal used as a fuel for electricity generation in six of the last seven years, underscoring a historical trend. U.S. metallurgical coal, used primarily as a raw material in the steelmaking process, historically has sold into export markets […]
Category: Today in Energy
U.S. natural gas consumption set annual and monthly records during 2023
In 2023, 89.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas was consumed in the United States, the most on record. Since 2018, U.S. natural gas consumption has increased by an average of 4% annually. […]
Increases in U.S. residential electricity bills in 2023 were outpaced by inflation
In 2023, U.S. residential electricity bills increased by 2% each month compared with 2022. That growth rate was slower than inflation, which was 4.1% in 2023. Over the past decade, residential electricity prices have increased more slowly than overall inflation. […]
U.S. hydropower generation expected to increase by 6% in 2024 following last year’s lows
Last year, U.S. hydropower electricity generation fell to its lowest since 2001. This year, we expect hydropower to increase 6% and account for 250 billion kilowatthours of electricity generation in the power sector, based on forecasts in our Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). We expect hydropower to increase in nearly every part of the country, with […]
U.S. natural gas trade will continue to grow with the startup of new LNG export projects
In our recently released Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we forecast that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will continue to lead growth in U.S. natural gas trade as three LNG export projects currently under construction start operations and ramp up to full production by the end of 2025. We also forecast increased natural gas exports […]
China imported record amounts of crude oil in 2023
China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, imported 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in 2023, 10% more than in 2022, according to China customs data. Refiners in China imported record volumes of crude oil in 2023 to supply the country’s increasing refining capacity in order to support the country’s transportation […]
The United States exported a record volume of natural gas in 2023
The United States exported 10% more natural gas in 2023 than in 2022, a record of 20.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to our Natural Gas Monthly. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports accounted for more than half of all U.S. natural gas exports, and natural gas exports by pipeline to Canada and […]
Natural gas filled in most of the drop in solar generation in Texas during April 8 eclipse
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse briefly but fully obscured sunlight to utility-scale solar electric generation facilities along the eclipse’s path, from Texas through Maine. Texas was especially affected because of how much solar capacity was in the path of totality. […]
Mild winter weather may lead to persistently high natural gas inventories through 2025
U.S. working natural gas inventories ended the winter heating season (November 1–March 31) at 2,290 billion cubic feet (Bcf), 39% more than the previous five-year (2019–23) average. Relatively high natural gas inventories all winter have contributed to record-low Henry Hub natural gas spot prices. The surplus to the five-year average grew over winter 2023–24 because […]
Introducing the Wholesale Electricity Market Portal
Yesterday, we publicly released the new Wholesale Electricity Market Portal to help users examine and access electricity markets data in the seven Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators. […]
