Wyoming, Texas, and Pennsylvania rank as the top net energy suppliers among states

EIA recently released State Energy Data System estimates for net energy supply, which provide data on each state’s total primary energy production and consumption. Wyoming, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and North Dakota ranked as the top five net suppliers of energy in 2015. Overall, 12 states produced more primary energy than they consumed, while 38 states and the District of Columbia were net recipients of energy. More »

California’s Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility cleared to resume partial operation

Aliso Canyon, California’s largest underground natural gas storage facility, was cleared on June 19 by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources to increase injections above earlier imposed limits. More »

Natural gas-fired electricity generation so far this summer is below last year's level

The amount of natural gas used for electricity generation, also known as power burn, reached its highest daily level so far in 2017 during the past week, exceeding 41 billion cubic feet (Bcf) on July 20, according to data from PointLogic Energy. More »

Per capita residential electricity sales in the U.S. have fallen since 2010

Following sustained growth through 2010, U.S. residential electricity sales have declined in both absolute and per capita terms. Although changes in the weather are a key driver of year-over-year fluctuations, energy efficiency improvements and economic factors have contributed to the decline in per capita residential electricity sales since 2010. More »

U.S. crude oil production forecast expected to reach record high in 2018

In EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), total U.S. crude oil production is forecast to average 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017, up 0.5 million b/d from 2016. In 2018, EIA expects crude oil production to reach an average of 9.9 million b/d, which would surpass the previous record of 9.6 million b/d set in 1970. More »

California wholesale electricity prices are higher at the beginning and end of the day

Comparisons of January through June electricity prices over the past three years suggest a growing premium for day-ahead hourly prices in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) energy market for certain morning and evening hours relative to prices for midday hours. More »

U.S. fuel ethanol production continues to grow in 2017

Through the first six months of 2017, U.S. weekly ethanol production averaged 1.02 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase of 5% over the same period in 2016. More »

Mexico conducts its first natural gas pipeline capacity open season

As part of a series of ongoing energy reforms, Mexico's National Center for Natural Gas Control (CENAGAS) recently conducted the first open season to auction capacity rights on the country's natural gas pipeline grid. More »

One in eight U.S. homes uses a programmed thermostat with a central air conditioning unit

Programmable thermostats are designed to help manage energy use, but most of the U.S. households with these controls do not choose to program their thermostats. Based on information collected through EIA’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) for 2015, only 12% of the nation’s 118 million households had a central air-conditioning unit that is actually controlled using the programmed thermostat. More »

U.S. coal exports have increased over the past six months

Coal exports for the first quarter of 2017 were 58% higher than in the same quarter last year, with steam coal exports increasing by 6 million short tons (MMst) and metallurgical coal exports increasing by 2 MMst. Most of these exports were shipped from Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico ports. More »

Retail price of regular gasoline forecast to average $2.38 per gallon this summer

In the latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (STEO), EIA forecasts that the U.S. retail price for regular gasoline will average $2.38 per gallon (gal) this summer (April through September). If realized, it would be the second-lowest summer average gasoline price since 2005. More »

The western U.S. sub-hourly wholesale electricity market is expanding

Seven electricity providers in the western portion of the United States and Canada have plans to join the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) western energy imbalance market (EIM) over the next several years. The EIM allows for more frequent dispatch of electricity-generating resources in the region. More »

Brent and WTI crude oil prices expected to average about $50 per barrel through 2018

EIA now forecasts Brent crude oil spot prices to average $51 per barrel (b) in 2017 and $52/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are expected to be $2/b lower than Brent prices in 2017 and 2018. Daily and monthly prices could vary significantly from this forecast because global economic developments and geopolitical events in the coming months have the potential to push oil prices higher or lower than the current forecast. More »

U.S. petroleum refinery capacity continues to increase

As of January 1, 2017, U.S. operable atmospheric crude distillation capacity reached 18.6 million barrels per calendar day (b/cd), 1.6% higher than at the beginning of 2016, according to EIA's annual Refinery Capacity Report. This increase in operable capacity was slightly lower than last year’s increase of 2.0%. More »

EIA adds small-scale solar photovoltaic forecasts to its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook

For the first time, EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook, to be released later today, includes forecasts for small-scale solar photovoltaic capacity and electricity generation. EIA forecasts that total U.S. small-scale solar PV capacity will grow from 14.3 gigawatts (GW) at the end of April 2017 to 21.9 GW at the end of 2018. More »

Florida’s Sabal Trail pipeline and associated natural gas pipeline projects begin service

On July 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized Phase I of the Sabal Trail pipeline to begin full operation. Sabal Trail is a 515-mile interstate natural gas pipeline transporting natural gas from an interconnection with the Transco pipeline in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, to the Central Florida Hub in Osceola County, Florida. More »

Energy commodity prices declined more than other commodities in the first half of 2017

The energy component of the Standard and Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) fell 11% during the first half of 2017, the largest decline for any commodity group in the index. Other components of the index—livestock, industrial metals, precious metals, and agriculture—had end-of-June prices that were higher than at the beginning of the year. More »

Construction costs for most power plant types have fallen in recent years

Based on EIA survey data for new, utility-scale electric generators (those with a capacity greater than one megawatt), capacity-weighted average construction costs for many generator types have fallen in recent years. Annual changes in construction costs include the effects of differences in the geographic distribution of installed capacity between years, differences in technology types, and other changes in capital and financing costs. More »

Even as renewables increase, fossil fuels continue to dominate U.S. energy mix

Fossil fuels have provided more than 80% of total U.S. energy consumption for more than 100 years. Since 1928, when consumption of natural gas surpassed that of biomass, the three fossil fuels—petroleum, natural gas, and coal—have been the three most consumed fuels in the United States. More »