The monthly natural gas share of total U.S. electricity generation surpassed the coal share in July for the second time ever, with natural gas fueling 35.0% of total generation to coal’s 34.9% share. Compared to the previous July, coal-fired generation fell in every region of the country, while natural gas-fired generation rose in every region.
Earlier this year, natural gas-fired generation surpassed generation from coal for the first time. This switch occurred in April, generally the month with the lowest demand for electricity. In times of low electricity demand, many generators schedule routine maintenance, and utilization rates for generating plants are low. As demand increases during the summer, output from both coal- and natural gas-fired generators increases.
Total electricity demand, excluding demand met by distributed (largely renewable) sources, increased from 384 billion kilowatthours (kWh) in July 2014 to 398 billion kWh in July 2015. Coal-fired generation fell from 150 billion kWh to 139 billion kWh, while natural gas-fired generation rose from 114 billion kWh to 140 billion kWh. This decrease in coal and increase in natural gas occurred in every region of the country: the Mid-Atlantic region had the largest decline in coal-fired generation, followed by Texas, while the Southeast and Central regions had the largest increases in natural gas-fired generation.
