New!  Beginning with this edition, the Electric Power Monthly will include new State-level data on renewable electricity generation. The new information covers generation from: Wind            Table 1.17A Biomass       Table 1.18A Geothermal  Table 1.19A Solar            Table 1.20A

Executive Summary

Generation: Net generation in the United States rose 5.2 percent from May 2009 to May 2010. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand (REDTI) was 0.3 percent above average for May as the “profound” warmth in the Northeast was offset by relatively cool temperatures in the Northwest and West. The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production was 7.6 percent higher than it had been in May 2009, the fifth consecutive month that industrial production was higher than it had been in the previous year.

The rise in coal-fired generation was the largest absolute fuel-specific increase from May 2009 to May 2010 as it was up 11,815 thousand megawatthours or 8.9 percent, and represented almost three-quarters of the overall national rise in generation. Coal-fired generation in Ohio, Alabama, West Virginia, Georgia, and Wisconsin accounted for 54.3 percent of the national coal-fired rise. Natural gas-fired generation, which had shown the largest absolute increase in generation from April 2009 to April 2010, was second to coal as it was up 4,893 thousand megawatthours, or 7.1 percent. Florida, Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Michigan accounted for 72.8 percent of the national increase. Nuclear generation was up 2.0 percent or 1,283 thousand megawatthours, as increases in Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania were the largest.

Generation from conventional hydroelectric sources decreased 15.7 percent, or 4,626 thousand megawatthours; it was also the energy source with the largest absolute drop in generation. Although the declines in Washington and Oregon accounted for most of the national drop, as the Northwest experienced unusually wet conditions in the first half of 2009, the decline in hydroelectric generation was widespread as only eight of the forty-eight States reporting such generation had higher totals in May 2010 than in May 2009. Generation from wind was up 38.5 percent, or 2,346 thousand megawatthours. Wind was the energy source with the third-highest absolute megawatthour increase over May 2009. Increased wind generation in Texas, Washington, North Dakota, Illinois, and Indiana accounted for 59.6 percent of the national rise. Petroleum liquid-fired generation was down 9.8 percent compared to a year ago, and its overall share of net generation continued to be quite small compared to coal, nuclear, natural gas-fired, and hydroelectric sources. Figure 1 shows net generation by month for the last 12 months.

Figure 1:Net Generation by Major Energy Source: Total (All Sectors), June 2009 through May 2010

Year-to-date, total net generation increased 2.4 percent from 2009 levels. Net generation attributable to coal-fired plants rose 5.0 percent. Natural gas-fired generation was up 4.1 percent. Nuclear generation declined 1.1 percent, and petroleum liquid-fired generation was down 31.9 percent.

Year-to-date, coal-fired plants contributed 46.3 percent of the power generated in the United States. Natural gas-fired plants contributed 21.2 percent, and nuclear plants contributed 20.3 percent. Of the 0.9 percent contributed by petroleum-fired plants, petroleum liquids represented 0.5 percent, with the remainder from petroleum coke. Conventional hydroelectric sources provided 6.6 percent of the total, while other renewables (biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind) and other miscellaneous energy sources generated the remaining 4.4 percent of electric power (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Net Generation Shares by Energy Source: Total (All Sectors), Year-to-Date through May, 20100

Consumption of Fuels: Consumption of coal for power generation in May 2010 was up 7.9 percent compared to May 2009. Consumption of natural gas rose 8.5 percent. For the same time period, consumption of petroleum liquids was down 10.1 percent, while petroleum coke fell 2.7 percent.

Fuel Stocks, Electric Power Sector, May 2010

Total electric power sector coal stocks decreased between May 2009 and May 2010 by 5.9 million tons as growing stocks of bituminous coal were offset by shrinking subbituminous stockpiles. May 2010 was the first month that total coal stocks were lower than the same month in the prior year after 20 consecutive months where they were higher. Stocks of bituminous coal rose 1.7 percent or 1.5 million tons between May 2009 and May 2010 (from 89.3 million tons to 90.8 million tons). Subbituminous coal stocks fell 8.5 percent over the same period (from 100.0 to 91.5 million tons).

Electric power sector liquid petroleum stocks totaled 37.1 billion barrels at the end of May 2010, a decrease of 8.9 percent (3.6 million barrels) from May 2009. May 2010 stocks were 1.2 percent (0.4 million barrels) lower than at the end of April 2010.

Fuel Receipts and Costs, All Sectors, May 2010

In May 2010, the price of coal and petroleum liquids to electricity generators decreased by 1.3 and 8.4 percent, respectively, from the previous month, while the cost of natural gas increased by 1.7 percent. Receipts of all three categories of fossil fuels increased from April to May 2010.

The average price paid for coal in May 2010 was $2.27 per MMBtu, down 1.3 percent from the price paid in April and up 1.3 percent from the price paid in May 2009. Receipts of coal in May 2010 were 79.5 million tons, up 2.2 percent when compared with April 2010 and were almost unchanged from a year earlier (an increase of 0.1 percent). Power plant coal inventories in the electric power sector, at 189 million tons, were down 6.9 percent from the recent peak reached in November 2009.

The average price paid for petroleum liquids decreased from $14.62 per MMBtu in April to $13.39 in May. This was an 8.4-percent decrease from April and a 49.1-percent increase from May 2009 when the global economic slowdown slashed the petroleum prices by more than half. Receipts of petroleum liquids in May 2010 were 3.6 million barrels, a 90.1-percent increase from April 2010 and a 12.6-percent decrease from May 2009. In May 2010, the increased demand for petroleum liquids was partially attributable to inventory build ups, which have put power plant inventories at their highest levels in almost a year.

The average price paid for natural gas by electricity generators in May 2010 was $4.78 per MMBtu, a 1.7-percent increase from the April 2010 level of $4.70 and a 7.9-percent increase from May 2009. Natural gas prices continued to be low mostly due to moderate demand and strong domestic production. Receipts of natural gas were 661 million Mcf, up 17.2 percent from April 2010 and 6.9 percent from May 2009. Although May is a transitional period with lower demand between the relatively high-demand periods of winter and summer, consumption of natural gas was higher than the same month last year due to a significant increase in demand in the electric power and industrial sectors.

The overall price paid by electricity generating plants for fossil fuels was $3.12 per MMBtu in May 2010. This was a 3.7-percent increase from April 2010 and a 6.5-percent increase from May 2009.

Year-to-date (January through May) 2010 average prices compared to the same period last year were up 64.0 percent for petroleum liquids, 9.5 percent for natural gas, and 1.3 percent for coal. Year-to-date 2010 receipts (physical units) compared to the same period last year were down 34.5 percent for petroleum liquids and 5.0 percent for coal, while natural gas receipts rose 3.2 percent.

Figure 3: Electric Power Industry Fuel Costs, June 2009 through May 2010

Sales, Revenue, and Average Retail Price, May 2010

The average retail price of electricity for May 2010 was 9.80 cents per kilowatthour (kWh), 2.2 percent higher than April 2010 when the average retail price of electricity was 9.59 cents per kWh, and 0.3 percent lower than May 2009, when the price was 9.83 cents per kWh. Retail sales between May 2009 and May 2010 increased 3.1 percent led by a 9.6-percent increase in the industrial sector. The average price of residential electricity for May 2010 increased 0.16 cents per kWh to 11.96 cents per kWh from May 2009 and was up from 11.75 cents per kWh in April 2010. At 11.96 cents per kWh, the average residential price of electricity increased by 1.4 percent from May 2009.

Sales: For May 2010, sales in the residential sector increased by 0.7 percent over May 2009. A 9.6-percent increase in industrial sales over May 2009 shows a sustained recovery in the industrial sector. Industrial sales also showed positive month over same month prior year growth in April 2010. Sales in the commercial sector also increased by 0.8 percent when compared to May 2009. For the month, total retail sales were 281.9 billion kWh, an increase of 15.6 billion kWh from April 2010, and an increase of 3.1 percent or 8.5 billion kWh from May 2009. Year-to-date retail sales were 1,468.3 billion kWh, an increase of 3.0 percent from the same period in 2009.

Revenue: Total retail revenues in May 2010 were $27.6 billion, reflecting an increase in revenue of 2.9 percent from May 2009, and an 8.2-percent increase from April 2010. For May 2010, residential, commercial and industrial sector retail revenues increased 2.1, 1.9 and 6.9 percent, respectively, from May 2009. Year-to-date retail revenue was $140.3 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent from the same period in 2009.

Average Retail Price: For the month, the average residential retail price increased to 11.96 cents per kWh from 11.75 cents per kWh in April 2010, and it was 1.4 percent higher than May 2009 when the price was 11.80 cents per kWh. The May 2010 average commercial retail price was 10.19 cents per kWh, an increase of 1.1 percent from May 2009, while increasing 2.2 percent from April 2010. The average industrial retail price for May 2010 increased to 6.69 cents per kWh, a 2.5-percent decrease from May 2009, but a 1.8-percent increase from 6.57 cents per kWh in April 2010. Year-to-date 2010 average retail prices decreased to 9.56 cents per kWh, a 1.8-percent decrease over the same period for 2009 (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, Year-to-Date through May 2010 and 2009

Contacts:
Coordinator -
Generation -
Consumption -
Fuel Stocks -
Fuel Receipts, Cost, and Quality -
Sales Revenue and Average Retail Price of Electricity -