U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON DC 20585
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 10, 2004
Slower Growth for U.S. Electricity Generation in 2003
Net electricity generation in the United States reached 3,883 billion kilowatthours in 2003, 0.6 percent higher than in 2002, according to Electric Power Annual 2003, released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This growth rate is significantly below the average annual growth rate of 2.4 percent between 1992 and 2003, due mainly to a cooler summer than the previous year.
Additional highlights from the report include:
- At the end of 2003, total net summer generating capacity was 948 gigawatts, an increase of 4.8 percent from 2002. The industry added 48 gigawatts of new capacity, the second largest amount of capacity added in any single year behind 2002 when 58 gigawatts were added. Following the recent trend in large natural gas-fired capacity additions, 80 percent of the new unit capacity added in 2003 was natural gas-fired. Natural gas and dual-fired (units that can use either natural gas or petroleum) capacity together now account for 40 percent of the total generating capacity. Hydroelectric and nuclear each has a 10-percent share of the total. Although coal-fired plants in 2003 maintained the largest share of U.S. electric generating capacity, their share of capacity continued its long decline and now accounts for 33 percent of the total U.S. capacity (down from 41 percent in 1992).
- Although coal’s share of capacity continued to decline, coal plants still accounted for 51 percent of generation. Nuclear plants accounted for 20 percent of generation in 2003, nearly unchanged from 2002. Usage of other fossil fuels accounted for another 20 percent share of total generation (3 percent from petroleum and 17 percent from natural gas).
- In 2003, the weighted average cost for each of the three major fossil fuels used for electricity generation increased over the prior year. The average cost of natural gas to electricity generators increased from $3.56 per million Btu in 2002 to an all-time record level of $5.37 per million Btu in 2003, exceeding the previous all-time record of $4.49 set in 2001. The cost of petroleum (per million Btu) also increased from a level of $3.34 in 2002 to $4.45 in 2003. While not at all-time record levels, the petroleum cost in 2003 was the highest since 1984. On a percentage basis, the cost of natural gas to electric generators increased by 50.7 percent from 2002 to 2003, while the cost of petroleum increased by 33.1 percent over the same period. Coal costs rose by only 1.6 percent from 2002 to 2003.
- Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generators for both generation and useful thermal output (steam produced by combined heat and power plants to heat their facilities or to use in their manufacturing process) increased 0.5 percent between 2002 and 2003, reaching the highest level since 2000. Emissions of nitrogen oxides declined by 8.5 percent over the same period, and have dropped 43 percent since 1992. Emissions of sulfur dioxide increased slightly between 2002 and 2003 (0.8 percent), and have dropped 30 percent since 1992.
- Total retail sales of electricity in 2003 were 3,488 billion kilowatthours, up 0.7 percent from the 2002 level. While electricity sales increased only slightly, revenue to electric utilities and energy service providers increased to nearly $259 billion in 2003, up 3.7 percent from 2002. All customer classes shared the higher costs, with the national average retail price across all sectors averaging 7.42 cents per kilowatthour in 2003, an increase of 2.9 percent from the average price in 2002.
- Sales to the transportation sector in 2003 were collected by EIA separately for the first time. The newly reported data, which consist primarily of electricity delivered to and consumed by local, regional and metropolitan mass transportation systems, accounted for sales of 0.5 billion kilowatthours, or 0.2 percent of the total national sales.
Electric Power Annual 2003 is available on the EIA Internet site at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html.
| The report described in this press release was prepared by the Energy Information Administration, the independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The information contained in the report and the press release should be attributed to the Energy Information Administration and should not be construed as advocating or reflecting any policy position of the Department of Energy or any other organization. |
EIA Program Contact: Robert Schnapp, 202/287-1787
EIA Press Contact: National Energy Information Center, 202/586-8800
EIA-2004-12
File Last Modified: December 10, 2004
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