Wind And Natural Gas Are Big Winners In US Power Generation

Although regional trends vary, natural gas and wind will be the fastest-growing sources of electricity generation in the United States through 2020, at the expense of coal, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday. Electricity generation from natural gas is set to rise by 6 percent this year and by 2 percent next year, the EIA says in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) in September. Electricity generation from wind will go up 6 percent in 2019 and surge 14 percent in 2020, according to EIA’s estimates. At the same time, electricity generation from coal is set to drop across the U.S., by 15 percent this year and by 9 percent next year. Natural gas-fired generation will see the highest growth in the mid-Atlantic region in the PJM Interconnection transmission area, while Texas will see the highest growth in wind power generation, the EIA said. Back in January this year, the EIA said that wind, natural gas, and solar capacity will lead the new electricity capacity in the United States in 2019, while coal-fired generation will account for more than half of the scheduled capacity retirements.