November 16, 2009 -- By Amanda Luhavalja – Source: UAE
Retail sales of electricity to the industrial sector from January through August were down by an average of 340 million kilowatt-hours per day compared with the same period last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Nov. 10 in its latest monthly "Short-Term Energy Outlook." About 35% of that decline occurred in the Midwest region.
While projected industrial sales begin to recover only very slowly next year, quicker growth in residential and commercial sector electricity sales should push total electricity consumption up by 1.6% in 2010, the agency said.
The projected price of natural gas used for electric power generation rises above $5/MMBtu by the end of this year, motivating electric power generators who have recently switched away from coal to natural gas to meet baseload generation requirements to increase their reliance on coal-fired generation, EIA said.
Coal-fired generation grows by 200 million kWh/d during 2010, while natural-gas-fired generation falls by 100 million kWh/d.
EIA now expects residential electricity prices to decline only slightly in 2010, by about 0.8% to 11.51 cents per kWh. This is in contrast to the agency's prior projection for a decline of 1.6%.
"This revision in the forecast is due primarily to higher projections for natural gas fuel costs and a slower decline in the price of coal delivered to the electric power sector," EIA said
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