Natural Gas-Fired Powerplants to Lead U.S. Power Generating Additions: March 2018 - February 2019
Windpower and solar PV in the West, natural gas-fired turbines in the East.
Wind-Turbines and Solar-PV will dominate Western U.S. new power sources
The U.S. Energy Administration's list of scheduled additions to the power generation fleet through February 2019 indicate that wind-turbines and solar-PV will comprise the majority in the West and Texas. Utilities in the Eastern U.S. will add several natural gas-fired powerplants, and smaller windpower and solar-PV sites. The EIA map below shows locations. Circle symbols are color-coded by generator type, and circle sizes are proportional to power output capacity.
U.S electric powerplant retirements planned for the same 12-month period will include coal combustion units, gas-fired turbines, and one nuclear station.
EIA's 2018 U.S new power generator survey monthly results, below, indicates natural gas-fired powerplants contributing the largest amount new of electrical generating capacity this year. Natural gas new gigaWatts are brown in each monthly bar. One gigaWatt equals 1,000 megaWatts or 1,000,000 kiloWatts. One Watt is the electrical unit for power measured instantaneously.
U.S. renewable-source power generating capacity additions exceeded non-renewable powerplants in five of the past nine years. Renewable power is expected to comprise 36%, or about 11 gigaWatts, of the total new 2018 generating capacity, according to the EIA chart below.
EIA's April 2018 Electricity Monthly Update chart of existing U.S. power generation fleet energy production, below, compares February 2018 (most recent month available) to February 2017.
The Central region ranked second in U.S. renewable-source monthly power production for February of both years.
One teraWatthour equals 1,000,000,000 kiloWatthours (kWhrs), the electrical-energy unit for metering residential and commercial electric service power consumption. If each Western region electric power user's kWhr meter measured an average of 1,000 kWhr in February 2018, the total month Western power production of about 55 teraWatthours shown on the chart would have supplied 55 million metered residential, commercial and industrial electric services.
Some industrial electric power consumers require many thousands to a few million kWhrs per month, while some homes and business need only a few hundred kWhrs monthly.
Western U.S. Renewable Electric Energy is 42% of Total
West leads in conversion to renewable electric power.
Hydro-Wind-Solar combo rivals Natural Gas turbines in 2017 Annual Totals
The western United States has the cleanest electric grid, according to electric power generation data published by the U.S. Electric Energy Administration earlier this year. Hydroelectric, windpower and solar photovoltaic (PV) now generate about 42 of every 100 KiloWatthours in the U.S Western region.
Hydropower supplied about 26% of the Western U.S. electricity supply in 2017. Non-hydro-renewables -- variable wind and solar -- combined added about 16%. Hydropower generation in the West was greater than normal in 2017 due to wet conditions, according to EIA.
EIA expects variable non-hydro renewable electric power generation (wind and solar PV) for the entire U.S. to reach 10% of total power production in 2019.
Natural gas-fired power generation in some parts of the U.S. will increase this year, while coal-fired electric power declines again:
"Power plant operators are scheduled to bring 20 gigawatts (GW) of new natural-gas fired generating capacity online in 2018, which, if realized, would be the largest increase in natural gas capacity since 2004. Almost 6 GW of the capacity additions are being built in Pennsylvania, and more than 2 GW are being built in Texas. In contrast, about 13 GW of coal-fired capacity are scheduled to be retired in 2018. These changes in the generating capacity mix contribute to the continuing switch from coal to natural gas, especially in southern and midwestern states." - EIA January 22, 2018.
Texas is included in EIA's the Southern group. An EIA "State Profile" January 18, 2018 summary describes Texas windpower:
Texas leads the nation in wind-powered generation capacity with more than 21,450 megawatts; since 2014, Texas wind turbines have produced more electricity than both of the state's two nuclear power plants.
More Info: U.S. EIA - January 22, 2018
1891 - World's First AC Electric Service Established Near Ophir, Colorado
100% renewable electric energy powered the first AC power utility.
Location: Ophir, San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, United States.
Event: Alternating Current (AC) electric power transmitted a significant distance over wires for the first time anywhere.
Source of AC electricity: A new hydroelectric power generating station at Ames.
Destination: Gold King Mine near Ophir, about 2.5 miles from Ames.
Another AC hydroelectric generator at Bridal Veil Falls, built in 1895, electrified the nearby the Smuggler-Union Mine and the mining town of Telluride.
Ames hydroelectric generating station - October 2017. Linecurrents photo.