Roughly 70 per cent of petroleum-fired electric generating capacity that still exists today was constructed prior to 1980, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Utility-scale generators that reported petroleum as their primary fuel comprised only 3 per cent of total electric generating capacity at the end of 2016 and produced less than 1 per cent of total electricity generation during 2016.
Power plants that burn petroleum liquids (such as distillate or residual fuel oils) are generally used for short periods during times of peak electricity demand.
