Electricity
Electricity Monthly Update
With Data for February 2012 | Release Date: Apr. 30, 2012 | Next Release Date: May 25, 2012
Previous Issues of Electricity Monthly Update
Highlights: February 2012
- Warm temperatures across much of the U.S. led to lower retail sales of electricity during February 2012.
- Natural gas-fired generation increased in every region of the United States when compared to February 2011.
- Wholesale electricity prices remained in the low end of the annual range for most wholesale markets due to low demand and depressed natural gas prices
Key Indicators
| Feb 2012 | % Change from Feb. 2011 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Net Generation (Thousand MWh) |
310,298 | -1.0% |
| Residential Retail Price (cents/kWh) |
11.55 | 3.9% |
| Retail Sales (Thousand MWh) |
285,684 | -3.5% |
| Heating Degree-Days | 654 | -12.0% |
| Natural Gas Price, Henry Hub ($/MMBtu) |
2.60 | -38.1% |
| Coal Stocks (Thousand Tons) |
186,958 | -13.6% |
| Coal Consumption (Thousand Tons) |
62,802 | -14.6% |
| Natural Gas Consumption (Mcf) |
672,419 | 33.6% |
| Nuclear Outages (MW) |
12,228 | 72.4% |
State Electric Retail Choice Programs Are Popular with Commercial and Industrial Customers
Eighteen States have adopted electric retail choice programs that allow end-use customers to buy electricity from competitive retail suppliers. While residential customer participation rates are low in almost all of these States, in nine States a majority of commercial customers have signed up with competitive suppliers, and the same is true of industrial customers in 12 States. The highest participation rates are found in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic States and most of Texas where electricity is supplied through Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and States have unbundled generation from retail delivery and sales.
Below we present regional State-by-State percentages of residential, commercial and industrial sales volumes by competitive suppliers, using 2010 data (the most recent available from the Form EIA-861 survey).
Not shown are retail sales for Texas because participation is mandated for all eligible customers (i.e., all customers served by investor-owned utilities located within the ERCOT RTO that covers most of the State; municipal and cooperative utilities in ERCOT can opt in or out of the program). About 60 percent of residential, commercial and industrial customers in Texas buy from competitive suppliers.
Northeastern States: In five States in the Northeast, 65% to 75% of industrial customers buy directly from competitive suppliers. Except in Connecticut, the participation rate for the commercial sector is lower than the industrial sector. Connecticut has the highest residential sector participation rate outside of Texas at 29 percent (more information is available at Connecticut's Energy Information Center website). Maine is not included even though it is a retail choice State because reporting issues prevent calculation of these percentages. Vermont does not have retail choice.
Mid-Atlantic States: The District of Columbia has the highest industrial sector percentage in the country, at 100 percent; however, there is only a single distribution utility and a single customer in the industrial sector. Maryland is third at 84%. The industrial and commercial sector competitive supply participation rates in Delaware and New Jersey are above 50%.
Midwestern States: Only three States in the Midwest have adopted retail choice programs. Illinois' industrial and commercial participation rates are among the highest in the country at 85% and 56%, respectively. The percentages for Ohio and Michigan are significantly lower than that of Illinois. Ohio's residential sector participation rate at 19% is the third highest in the country after Connecticut and Texas.
Western States: Other than the industrial sector in Montana with 63%, the participation rates in all sectors in three western retail choice States are small. As early as 2001, Montana had over 50% of its industrial sector sales served by competitive suppliers. As with all the States shown above, all the competitive retail supply in California occurs in that large portion of the State that is supplied by the CAISO, which is an RTO. An RTO does not operate in the other two western States.
Principal Contributor: Bill Booth (William.Booth@eia.gov)