News

In the first half of 2023, developers added 16.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity to the U.S. power grid, according to our latest inventory of electric generators. Developers plan to bring an additional 35.2 GW of capacity online in the second half of the year. Read...

Homes in the Midwest consumed 34% more natural gas than the national average—76.1 million British thermal units (MMBtu) per household compared with 56.6 MMBtu nationally—according to our 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The newest midwestern homes, those built since 2010, consumed...

In 2021, the amount U.S. consumers spent on energy (energy expenditures) grew to over $1.3 trillion when adjusted for inflation, a 25% increase from 2020, according to our State Energy Data System (SEDS). Rising petroleum consumption in 2021 following 2020 lows induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and...

In 2021, Qatar was the world’s sixth-largest dry natural gas producer, the second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, and the third-largest holder of natural gas reserves, according to the data in our recently updated Country Analysis Brief: Qatar. Read More...

A new reactor at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power plant is now in commercial operation, according to an announcement from Georgia Power, one of the plant’s owners. It is the first new nuclear reactor to start up in the United States since the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 was commissioned...

Natural gas deliveries by pipeline to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities are called LNG feed gas. LNG feed gas averaged 12.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in the first six months of 2023, following the Freeport LNG terminal’s return to service, according to data by S&P...

The energy intensity for cooling commercial buildings in the United States depends on the climate the building is located in. Energy intensity in buildings is the energy consumed per square foot of floorspace. U.S. commercial buildings in hot or very hot climates, which are primarily in the...

An extreme heat wave in late June and July led to record-breaking demand for electricity in Texas as homes and businesses turned up their air-conditioning, fans, and other cooling equipment to cope with the heat. Power plants in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)—the grid operator for...

U.S. refining capacity increased slightly for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, as of January 1, 2023, reversing two years of decline, according to our annual Refinery Capacity Report. Operable atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity, our primary measure of refinery capacity in the...

The average monthly spot natural gas price at the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub fell 34%, or $1.12 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), to $2.18/MMBtu between January and June, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon. The Henry Hub price averaged $3.30/MMBtu in January on an inflation-adjusted basis...