Panama Canal traffic to increase as drought conditions ease
Note: June 2024 data is through June 25. No data for 2002
The Panama Canal Authority (APC) announced this month that it will increase the number of daily booking slots for vessels transiting the Panama Canal to 35 in August, easing rules that restricted shipping traffic through the narrow waterway since last year. The APC increased booking slots following higher rainfall at Gatún Lake, increasing Neopanamax crossings of the canal’s larger locks to 10 vessels and Panamax crossings of the smaller locks to 25 vessels.
Read More ›Tags: international, weather, map, chokepoints
U.S. energy production exceeded consumption by record amount in 2023
In 2023, energy production in the United States rose 4% to nearly 103 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), a record. Energy consumption in the United States fell 1% to 94 quads during the same period. Production exceeded consumption by 9 quads, more than at any other time in our records, which date to 1949.
Read More ›Why are Midwest grid operators turning away wind power?
Note: Midwestern United States is the area overseen by the MISO and the SPP balancing authorities.
As wind generation capacity has grown in the Midwest of the United States, grid operators have increasingly restricted wind generation because of both oversupply and congestion on the grid.
Read More ›Tags: generation, electricity, Midwest, wind
Utilities report batteries are most commonly used for arbitrage and grid stability
Electricity utilities increasingly report using batteries to move electricity from periods of low prices to periods of high prices, a strategy known as arbitrage, according to new detailed information we recently published.
Read More ›Tags: generation, electricity, storage, wind, solar, utility
New England utility closes import-dependent gas-fired power plant, keeps LNG import option
Updated June 24 to clarify deliveries to Everett LNG comprised all LNG delivered by ship to New England in 2023. Some LNG imported into New England was delivered by truck.
On May 31, Constellation Energy retired the natural gas-fired Mystic Generating Station it owned and operated. Mystic was one of the oldest U.S. electric power plants, located in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the north side of Boston.
Read More ›Electricity demand surged in New England amid heat wave
Note: Data on demand by region lags total demand. ISO-NE=Independent System Operator of New England
Electricity demand in New England surged this week as high temperatures persisted through much of the United States.
Read More ›Tags: consumption/demand, electricity, weather, New England
Our estimated rate of U.S. natural gas vented or flared declined in 2023
Note: The Natural Gas Annual relies on vented and flared natural gas data reporting by states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
We estimate the annual reported volume of natural gas that is vented or flared in the United States declined to 0.5% of gross withdrawals in 2023, based on preliminary state and federal data. We estimate this percentage will be the lowest rate of venting and flaring recorded in 18 years.
Read More ›U.S. refinery capacity increased 2% in 2023
Operable atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity, our primary measure of refinery capacity in the United States, increased by 2%, or 324,000 barrels per day (b/d), in 2023, according to our recently published Refinery Capacity Report.
Read More ›PJM has been dispatching coal-fired generators less than other generators
Use of the coal fleet in PJM, the country’s largest wholesale electricity market, has fallen over the last decade, driven largely by higher relative fuel costs. Much of the competitive pressure has come from the significant build out of efficient natural gas combined-cycle plants, the capacity of which has doubled in PJM since 2013.
Read More ›Tags: coal, generation, electricity, map, wholesale power
New Mountain Valley Pipeline to begin operations
Corrected on June 14 to accurately reflect the current status of the Equitrans Midstream Corporation acquisition.
On June 11, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to begin operations. MVP, 303 miles long, can move up to 2.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to an interconnection with Transcontinental Gas Pipeline’s (Transco) compressor station 165 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Transco delivers natural gas through a 10,000-mile interstate transmission pipeline system extending from South Texas to New York.
Read More ›Tags: natural gas, pipelines, West Virginia, states, map
Typical residential electricity bills could be slightly higher this summer
Data values: U.S. Regional Electricity Sales to Ultimate Customers and U.S. Regional Electricity Prices to Ultimate Customers
This summer—June through August—we expect that residential customers’ monthly electricity bills will average $173 in the United States, slightly higher than last summer’s average of $168. We expect that more electricity consumption, resulting from our assumption that summer temperatures will be warmer this year, will be partially offset by lower residential electricity prices in most areas of the country.
Read More ›EIA expands coverage of crude oil and natural gas production with regional forecast
Updated June 20, 2024 to correct headings in first two charts.
Note: L48=Lower 48 states
Beginning with this month’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we are including new regional crude oil and natural gas production forecasts to provide a more complete breakout of U.S. Lower 48 (L48) states production data.
Read More ›Red Sea disruptions increase oil flows around Cape of Good Hope
Note: May 2024 is preliminary data.
The amount of crude oil and oil products flowing around the Cape of Good Hope, located at the southern tip of Africa, increased nearly 50% in the first five months of 2024 compared with the 2023 average as commercial vessels avoided chokepoints in the Middle East.
Read More ›NERC reports some U.S. regions at risk for energy shortfalls in extreme summer conditions
Parts of the United States could be at risk for electricity supply shortages if electricity demand peaks are higher than anticipated or if less electricity is generated than expected, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2024 Summer Reliability Assessment. Under normal summer demand conditions, NERC expects the continental United States to have adequate power resources this year.
Read More ›Electrolyzers are a small but growing source of U.S. hydrogen production
Developers in the United States have plans to expand hydrogen production using technologies that make use of electricity, an early sign that hydrogen production could move away from its current reliance on hydrocarbon feedstocks in the coming years.
Read More ›Tags: electricity, map, production/supply, hydrogen