On average across the United States, households can expect heating expenditures this winter (October through March) to be lower than last winter’s, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Winter Fuels Outlook, released at noon today. Compared with last winter’s heating bills, EIA expects households that primarily use electricity or natural gas as their […]
Category: Today in Energy
Five states have implemented programs to assist nuclear power plants
In late July 2019, Ohio became the fifth state in the United States to enact policies that provide for compensation or other assistance for in-state nuclear generating plants. Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York have implemented similar support programs for some of their nuclear power plants since 2017. All five state states have unbundled, […]
U.S. nuclear outages remained low in summer and moderate in September
U.S. nuclear electric generation plant outages averaged 2.7 gigawatts (GW) during the summer of 2019 (June through August), about the same as during the summer of 2018. Nuclear plant availability was at its highest level, meaning that nuclear outages were at their lowest level from late June to early July, averaging 1.2 GW. Although the […]
U.S. crude oil exports continued to grow in the first half of 2019
U.S. exports of crude oil rose to average 2.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first half of 2019, an increase of 966,000 b/d from the first half of 2018. U.S. crude oil exports also set a record-high monthly average in June 2019 at 3.2 million b/d. […]
EIA projects that renewables will provide nearly half of world electricity by 2050
In 2018, 28% of global electricity was generated from renewable energy sources, most (96%) of which was produced from hydropower, wind, and solar technologies. In its International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that renewables will collectively increase to 49% of global electricity generation by 2050. Of the top three […]
August non-OPEC unplanned oil production outages fell to lowest level since at least 2011
Unplanned oil production outages among countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell to 64,000 barrels per day (b/d) in August, the lowest level since the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) began tracking global production outages in 2011. Unplanned outages in major non-OPEC oil producers such as the United States, Russia, and […]
EIA projects global energy-related CO2 emissions will increase through 2050
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy-related sources will continue to grow in the coming decades. EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019) projects that global energy-related CO2 emissions will grow 0.6% per year from 2018 to 2050 in its Reference case. However, future growth in energy-related CO2 […]
Most wind capacity in the United States is designed for a medium wind speed environment
Most wind turbines in the United States were designed for medium wind environments, according to data collected in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Electric Generator Report. Wind design classes, as defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), range from Class 1 (high wind) to Class 4 (very low wind). […]
Maine and New York become the 6th and 7th states to adopt 100% clean electricity targets
As of the end of 2018, 29 states and the District of Columbia had adopted renewable portfolio standards (RPS), polices that require electricity suppliers to source a certain amount of their electricity from designated renewable resources or eligible technologies. Three states—Maine, New York, and Ohio—have updated their RPS since May 2019. As a result of […]
U.S. sees largest weekly gasoline price increase since Hurricane Harvey
The U.S. average retail gasoline price increased by more than 10 cents per gallon (gal) from the previous week, based on data in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. This increase was the largest since early September 2017, when the national average gasoline price rose 28 cents/gal in the aftermath […]
