Aria Thomas
Nov 09, 2022 15:42

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Tuesday, the nation's power consumption will hit a record high in 2022 owing to increased economic activity and higher summer temperatures.
As temperatures moderate, the EIA forecasts that energy demand would decline from 4,036 billion kWh in 2022 to 3,990 billion kWh in 2023.
Contrast this with a demand low of 3,856 billion kWh in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and a record high of 4,003 billion kWh in 2018.
The EIA forecasts that residential sales of electricity will climb to 1,509 billion kWh in 2022, commercial sales will rise to 1,371 billion kWh as more people return to the workforce, and industrial sales will reach 1,010 billion kWh.
This compares to residential consumption records of 1,477 billion kWh in 2021, commercial consumption records of 1,382 billion kWh in 2018, and industrial consumption records of 1,050 billion kWh in 2000.
The EIA predicts that the share of natural gas to power generation will rise from 37% in 2021 to 38% in 2022, before decreasing to 36% in 2023. Coal's share will decrease from 23% in 2021 to 20% in 2022 and 19% in 2023 as renewable energy output grows.
The generation of renewable energy will grow from 20% in 2021 to 22% in 2022 to 24% in 2023. The proportion of nuclear energy will fall to 19% in 2022, down from 20% in 2021, before rebounding to 20% in 2023.
The EIA estimated that in 2022, residential gas sales would reach 13.58 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), commercial sales would reach 9.69 bcfd, industrial sales would reach 23.28 bcfd, and power generation would reach 33.01 bcfd.
This compares to record highs of 14.32 bcfd for residential consumers in 1996, 9.63 bcfd for commercial users in 2019, 23.80 bcfd for industrial clients in 1973, and 31.75 bcfd for electricity production in 2020.
Nov 08, 2022 14:17
Nov 09, 2022 15:45