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July 1, 2011

Natural gas consumption has two peaks each year

graphs of Natural gas consumption has two peaks each year, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly
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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.


graph of Share of total natural gas consumption by sector, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly
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