Pipeline companies deliver most of the U.S. electric power sector’s natural gas
According to our Natural Gas Annual Respondent Query System, 1,653 natural gas delivery companies delivered natural gas to end-use customers in 2023 in the United States. A delivery company is defined as any entity that delivers natural gas directly to end users. Natural gas deliveries by pipeline companies to the electric power sector made up the largest share of deliveries to end-use consumers, accounting for 33% of all natural gas delivered to end-use consumers in 2023.
The cost of transporting coal to the U.S. electric power sector fell slightly in 2023
We released new data on the U.S. electric power sector’s coal transportation costs. The release incorporates final data for 2023 from Form EIA-923, which we collect from electric power plant owners and operators. The data release based on our Form EIA-923 includes tables with costs, in nominal and real (2023) dollars, across regions, states, and modes of transportation. These transportation rates are calculated as a weighted average of the difference between the commodity cost and total delivered cost of coal shipments to plants in the electric power sector. In addition, the rates are based on the primary transport mode that
Natural gas-fired power plants have different owner types
Natural gas-fired generating plants in the United States can be categorized by different ownership type, which can influence where individual plants are located, as well as how they operate and even the way fuel is purchased. Those different owners, through the investments they have made, have been instrumental in making natural gas the single-largest source used to generate electricity in the United States, with a 43% share of both capacity and energy output. EIA collects data for the different ownership types of natural gas-fired power plants.
Rarely used oil, coal helped power New England during recent cold snap
Below average temperatures in the eastern United States during the week of January 19, 2025, resulted in high demand for electricity. On January 21 at 6:00 p.m. eastern time, ISO-New England (ISO-NE), the organization operating an integrated grid in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, recorded peak hourly demand of 19,600 megawatts (MW). Although demand was elevated, it was lower than the 20,308 MW that ISO-NE forecast peak demand would be in its 2024/2025 winter assessment published on November 7, 2024. Temperatures were more moderate in New England than in the Midwest, which tempered electricity demand somewhat
Forecast wholesale power prices and retail electricity prices rise modestly in 2025
In our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect that U.S. wholesale power prices will average slightly higher in 2025 in most U.S. regions than last year, except in Texas and in the Northwest. We forecast that the 11 wholesale prices we track in STEO will average $40 per megawatthour (MWh) in 2025 (weighted by demand), up 7% from 2024. We expect the 2025 average U.S. residential electricity price will be 2% higher than the 2024 average, though after accounting for inflation, our forecast for U.S. residential prices remains relatively unchanged from 2024.
FEMA Obligates $1.02 Billion for Critical Repairs and Replacement of Territory’s 911 Communication Towers and Power Plants
FEMA Obligates $1.02 Billion for Critical Repairs and Replacement of Territory’s 911 Communication Towers and Power Plants ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – FEMA, along with the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (GVI) and the Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR), announce several recent key obligations of additional funding to assist the Territory in its recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria. $161.5 million has been obligated for the repair and replacement of communication towers on the islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, $205.9 million to support the replacement of generation units at the Randolph Harley
Power Lever Failure and Cracking on Cirrus SR20/SR22/SR22T
The FAA is investigating a report of a power lever failure on a Cirrus SR20 airplane. While advancing to full throttle in preparation for takeoff, the power lever sheared and the pilot aborted the takeoff. The fleet operator inspected additional aircraft and found cracks in numerous levers through visual and dye penetrant inspections. The aircraft hours on the fleet ranged from 2900 to 3900 hours. The aircraft are utilized in a training environment and contained an average of 12,000 to 15,000 landings. FAA’s Operational Safety Branch recently issued an Airworthiness Concern Sheet (ACS) to highlight this concern and the ongoing
Electric Power Monthly
(Fri, 22 Nov 2024) Data in the November 2024 Electric Power Monthly (EPM) are for September 2024, when net generation in the United States decreased 0.3% from September 2023. Consumption of natural gas for power generation was up 2.0% compared with the previous September. The average residential retail price of electricity was up 3.4% from September 2023.