Driven by massive declines in coal, overall fossil fuel use in electric generation fell to the lowest level since 1994, the Energy Information Administration reported.
Total petroleum, natural gas and coal use fell to 22.5 quadrillion BTUs last year.
Coal represented the majority of the decline, as its use fell to its lowest level since 1982. Though petroleum use represents a relatively small portion of power generation, its use declined even more to the lowest since at least 1949, the earliest year for that data.