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
U.S. coal exports reached a six-year record in June 2024
Gross U.S. coal exports in June 2024 totaled 10 million short tons, the most in a month since October 2018, data from our Short-Term Energy Outlook data browser show. Annual average U.S. coal exports were 9.0 million short tons in 2024. U.S. coal exports have increased each year since 2020, when they averaged 5.8 million short tons amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. nuclear generators import nearly all the uranium concentrate they use
In 2023, U.S. nuclear generators used 32 million pounds of imported uranium concentrate (U3O8) and only 0.05 million pounds of domestically produced U3O8. Imports accounted for 99% of the U3O8 they used in 2023 to make nuclear fuel. Foreign producers predominantly supply the U.S. front-end nuclear fuel cycle, but federal policies have been implemented recently to build out the domestic U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently received $2.7 billion in congressional funding to help revive domestic fuel production for commercial nuclear power plants.
New solar plants expected to support most U.S. electric generation growth
In our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect that U.S. renewable capacity additions—especially solar—will continue to drive the growth of U.S. power generation over the next two years. We expect U.S. utilities and independent power producers will add 26 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to the U.S. electric power sector in 2025 and 22 GW in 2026. Last year, the electric power sector added a record 37 GW of solar power capacity to the electric power sector, almost double 2023 solar capacity additions. We forecast wind capacity additions will increase by around 8 GW in 2025 and 9 GW