Sunday, March 23, 2014

Electricity Generation from Fossil Fuels

It is instructive to see the recently released data for fossil fuel power generation.  Gas appears to be losing market share to coal despite a sharp increase in power output due to the cold winter weather.

Gas prices have been steadily rising.  Does this explain all of the losses to coal?  Gas lost 2.4 points of market share this January:

The explanation is a combination of price sensitivity, total power demand, and the gradual transition of power generation capacity from coal to gas, which varies significantly from state to state.

Reliance on natural gas for power burn is more concentrated....the top 20 states were 87% of total demand in Jan '14, whereas the top 20 coal burning states were 78% of coal's total.

Texas dominates both lists.  Here are the top 20 states for electricity output from natural gas and from coal.  for Jan '14, in GWh:

These lists are geographically diverse from one another.  The other states that made both lists:

  1. Texas
  2. Indiana (barely)
  3. Florida
  4. Alabama
  5. Georgia
  6. Arizona
  7. North Carolina
  8. Michigan
  9. Pennsylvania
  10. Ohio
Of the 30 states that comprise the two lists, here is how they ranked in Jan '14 in terms of gas market share of fossil fuel generation.  This list will look different in a typical summer month, but it is a reminder that the power generation mix varies significantly from state to state.