Wholesale electricity prices at major trading hubs in the eastern United States during 2017 were relatively unchanged from 2016, while average monthly wholesale prices in California and Texas increased by 18% and 27%, respectively, in 2017. …read more Source:: TODAY…

Month: January 2018 (page 2)
Natural gas prices, production, and exports increased from 2016 to 2017
In 2017, natural gas spot prices at the national benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana averaged $3.01 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), about 50 cents per MMBtu higher than in 2016. The higher prices in 2017 contributed to less natural…
During recent cold snap, the U.S. withdrew a record amount of natural gas from storage
During the recent cold weather event that affected much of the eastern United States, more natural gas was withdrawn from storage fields around the country than at any other point in history. Net withdrawals from natural gas storage totaled 359…
EIA forecasts mostly flat crude oil prices and increasing global production through 2019
EIA’s January Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts Brent crude oil to average $60 per barrel (b) in 2018 and $61/b in 2019, slightly higher than the $54/b average in 2017. In both 2018 and 2019, EIA expects total global crude oil…
Nearly half of utility-scale capacity installed in 2017 came from renewables
Once final data are in, EIA expects about 25 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity to have been added to the power grid during 2017, nearly half of which use renewable technologies, especially wind and solar. Another 3.5…
Almost all power plants that retired in the past decade were powered by fossil fuels
Nearly all of the utility-scale power plants in the United States that were retired from 2008 through 2017 were fueled by fossil fuels. Of the total retired capacity, coal power plants and natural gas steam turbines accounted for the highest…
Batteries perform many different functions on the power grid
Driven largely by installations over the past three years, the electric power industry has installed about 700 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale batteries on the U.S. electric grid. As of October 2017, these batteries made up about 0.06% of U.S. utility-scale…
Cold weather, higher exports result in record natural gas demand
Estimated U.S. natural gas demand on January 1, 2018 reached 150.7 billion cubic feet, surpassing the previous single-day record set in 2014, according to estimates from PointLogic. Much colder-than-normal temperatures across much of the United States have led to increased…
U.S. gasoline prices increased in 2017
Crude oil prices ended 2017 at $60/barrel (b), the highest end-of-year price since 2013. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices averaged $51/b in 2017, up $7/b from the 2016 average, and ended the year $6/b higher than at the…
Crude oil prices increased in 2017, and Brent-WTI spread widened
Crude oil prices ended 2017 at the highest levels since 2013. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices averaged $51/b in 2017, up $7/b from the 2016 average, and ended the year at $60/b, $6/b higher than at the end…