Natural gas consumption has two peaks each year

Consumption of natural gas is seasonal, with consumption patterns among end-use sectors highly driven by weather. Total natural gas consumption peaks during the winter, when cold weather increases demand for natural gas heating. A second, smaller peak occurs during the summer, when electricity generation using natural gas increases to serve summer air-conditioning load.

Residential and commercial demand for heating accounts for over 50% of the natural gas delivered for end-uses in the United States during the winter. During the summer, total consumption of natural gas is, on average, about 30% lower than in the winter, with about half the gas used to generate electricity for air-conditioning.

In contrast to these seasonal patterns, natural gas demand in the industrial sector is more even throughout the year, although it has varied from about 20% to 40% of total consumption over the past six years.