The American power market is in an interesting place. Caught between recovering from the recession, adapting to last year’s change of administration, and pushed by the post-Kyoto process of climate change targets, there’s a lot going on. At Timetric, we’ve been collecting some of the latest US energy information from sources including the BP Statistical Review and the US Energy Information Administration to try and demystify this market.
Electricity Generation
The recession hit power companies hard; as economic demand for electricity fell, so did the need to produce it, as this series shows. As the recovery continues, so will the demand for electricity generation.
Electricity Prices
Energy Information Administration data shows that electricity prices in the US have been on a continuous rise since 1999. Looking closer, the average U.S. residential retail price of electricity increased in May to 11.96 cents per kilowatt-hour from 11.75 cents per kwh in April. Connecticut has the highest residential and commercial electricity prices, at around 20 and 16.7 cents/kWh respectively.
Electricity Sales
Electricity sales have fallen over the past few years. However, this is forecast to change as the economy recovers.
Resources
Renewable energy is, currently, on the rise in the US. However, many people are worried that this is not going to last. For instance, the US has installed more coal and natural gas power plants than wind and other renewable energy sources in 2010 so far, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
This is staggering. Total CO2 emissions have recently fallen drastically — another product of the downturn. However, as demand picks up, so will greenhouse gases; if the US economy is to return to growth, it will come at the cost of carbon. Balancing economics and environmentalism is a challenge that even the world’s leading economy is yet to really face.