Dive Brief
- The Southeast has seen the greatest increase in natural gas-fired generation and largest drop in coal-fired power than any other region, according to the Energy Information Administration.
- Natural gas use for power plants in the region has increased since 2009 when gas prices fell to around $4/MMBtu. Coal prices have steadily climbed since then, making highly efficient gas-fired plants more cost effective.
- Coal-fired generation has dropped from about 58% of all generation in 2001 to about 38% this year.
Dive Insight
“Electric units that are fired by all types of coal were backed down during the spring of 2012, when natural gas prices in the region were at their lowest point in a decade,” EIA said. “Coal-fired generation rebounded modestly in 2013 as natural gas prices rose above their 2012 levels, but coal is still contributing less than 50% of regional generation this year, which is a dramatic shift from 2001-09.”
Oglethorpe Power, a large wholesale cooperative in Georgia, last week reported that one of its two coal-fired power plants was running at a 9% capacity so far this year compared with about 40% in the same period last year because it burns central Appalachian coal instead of less expensive Powder River Basin coal.
