June 2008 edition
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Contacts:
Coordinator: Jorge Luna-Camara
Phone: (202) 586-3945
Email: jorge.luna-camara@eia.doe.gov
Generation: Ronald Hankey
Phone: (202) 586-2630
Email: ronald.hankey@eia.doe.gov
Consumption: Christopher Cassar
Phone: (202) 586-5448
Email: christopher.cassar@eia.doe.gov
Fuel Stocks: Daniel Brent
Phone: (202) 586-1146
Email: daniel.brent@eia.doe.gov
Fuel Receipts, Cost, and Quality: Rebecca McNerney
Phone: (202) 586-4509
Email: rebecca.mcnerney@eia.doe.gov
Sales, Revenue, and Average Retail Price of Electricity: Charlene Harris-Russell
Phone: (202) 586-2661
Email: charlene.harris-russell@eia.doe.gov
Executive Summary
Generation: Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that temperatures across most of the contiguous United States were lower than normal in March 2008. Only Arizona, New Mexico, and Rhode Island were warmer than average. March 2008 temperatures were much lower than those of March 2007, because record breaking temperatures covered large parts of the country during the last two weeks of the former month. As a result, heating degree days for the United States were 19.5 percent higher than they were in March 2007. According to the Federal Reserve, industrial production was 2.3 percent higher than it had been in March 2007. The higher heating demand coupled with the rise in production led to net generation that was 1.1 percent or 3.5 million MWh higher than March 2007. The increased demand in generation was largely met with coal-fired and natural gas-fired capacity, although generation from nuclear sources also increased, offsetting the decrease in conventional hydroelectric generation from March 2007.
Coal generation in March 2008 was 0.7 percent higher than it was in March 2007. Net generation attributable to nuclear sources was 0.6 percent higher than the year before. Natural gas-fired generation was 8.1 percent higher than its March 2007 level. Due to the increases in the price of oil, petroleum liquid-fired generation was 47.7 percent lower compared to a year ago, with its overall share of net generation still quite small compared to coal, nuclear, and natural gas-fired sources. Wind-powered generation was 34.1 percent higher than it was in March 2007. Wind-powered generation contributed 29.7 percent of the increase in total net generation. Even with this significant increase, the contribution of wind-powered generation to the national total was only 1.3 percent in March 2008.
Year-to-date, net generation was up 1.6 percent over 2007 levels, a contributing factor to this growth was the seasonal effects of the weather. Net generation attributable to coal-fired plants increased by 2.3 percent. Nuclear generation was down 1.6 percent. Generation from petroleum liquids was down 52.6 percent, while natural gas-fired generation was up 10.8 percent. Conventional hydroelectric generation was down 5.5 percent year-to-date.
Coal-fired plants contributed 50.4 percent of the Nation’s electric power, year-to-date. Nuclear plants contributed 19.8 percent, while 19.0 percent was generated at natural gas-fired plants. Of the 1.1 percent generated by petroleum-fired plants, petroleum liquids represented 0.8 percent with the remainder from petroleum coke (Figure 1). Conventional hydroelectric power provided 6.5 percent of the total, while other renewables (primarily biomass, but also geothermal, solar, and wind) and other miscellaneous energy sources generated the remaining electric power Figure 2 shows net generation by month for the last 12 months.
Consumption of Fuels: Consumption of coal for power generation in March 2008 was up by 1.0 percent compared to March 2007. For the same time period, consumption of natural gas increased by 3.0 percent, while the consumption of petroleum liquids and petroleum coke decreased by 49.9 percent and 18.0 percent, respectively. Year-to-date, consumption of coal and natural gas increased by 1.8 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. The consumption of petroleum liquids and petroleum coke decreased by 53.4 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.
Fuel Stocks, Electric Power Sector, March 2008
Total electric power sector coal stocks increased between March 2007 and March 2008 by 4.0 million tons. Stocks of bituminous coal (including coal synfuel) decreased by 9.6 million tons comparing March 2007 to March 2008 (from 69.9 to 60.4 million tons). Subbituminous coal stocks grew by 15.6 million tons between March 2007 and March 2008 (from 68.1 to 83.7 million tons).
As was the case at the end of February 2008, which reversed the trend of all 12 months of 2007 and January 2008, petroleum liquid stocks at the end of March 2008 increased from same-month levels of the prior year. Electric power sector liquid petroleum stocks totaled 41.2 million barrels at the end of March 2008, 0.4 percent lower than the level at the end of March 2007, and 8.5 percent (3.8 million barrels) lower than at the end of February 2008.
Fuel Receipts and Costs, All Sectors, March 2008
March receipts of petroleum liquids were 3.5 million barrels, down 2.0 percent from February 2008. The rising trend in the price of petroleum to electricity generators has changed this month. The average price paid for petroleum liquids was $15.10 per MMBtu in March 2008, a 0.2-percent decrease when compared with the $15.14 per MMBtu price in February 2008. However, the price is 88.0 percent higher than March 2007. The price of oil to electric power producers is usually in line with the spot price of a barrel of oil in the United States. However, in contrast to the 0.2-percent decrease in petroleum receipts, March saw a small increase in the spot price. At the end of March 2008, the spot price (FOB weighted by estimated import volume) of a barrel of oil was $99.32, a 4.4-percent increase over February 2008, and a 60.7-percent increase over March 2007 .
The average price paid for natural gas by electricity generators in March 2008 was $9.29 per MMBtu, a 7.5-percent increase from the February 2008 level of $8.6 per MMBtu. The March 2008 price was 24.9 percent higher than the March 2007 price of $7.44 per MMBtu. Receipts of natural gas were 532,231 thousand Mcf, down 4.9 percent from February 2008, and down 15.9 percent from March 2007. The average price of coal to electricity generators in March 2008 was $1.94 per MMBtu, up 3.2 percent from February 2008 and up 9.6 percent from the March 2007 price. Receipts of coal were up 6.1 percent when compared with February 2008 and down 5.0 percent from March 2007. The overall price for fossil fuels was $3.80 per MMBtu in March 2008, a 4.1-percent increase from February 2008, and 26.0 percent higher than in March 2007.
Year-to-date (January through March) 2008 prices compared to the same period last year were up 18.0 percent for gas, 84.1 percent for petroleum liquids, and 8.5 percent for coal. Year-to-date 2008 receipts compared to the same period last year are up 15.1 percent for natural gas, down 34.3 percent for petroleum liquids, and down 3.0 percent for coal.
Sales, Revenue, and Average Retail Price, March 2008
The average retail price of electricity for March 2008 was 9.09 cents per kilowatthour (kWh), 1.5 percent higher than February 2008 when the average retail price of electricity was 8.96 cents per kWh and 3.5 percent higher than March 2007. An increase in electricity demand due to lower-than-normal temperatures led to retail sales for March 2008 being 1.7 percent higher than March 2007. The average price of residential electricity for March 2008 increased slightly to 10.52 cents per kWh, up from 10.24 cents per kWh in February 2008 and increased by 3.0 percent from March 2007.
Sales: For March 2008, the residential sector increased by 1.7 percent from March 2007. The commercial and industrial sectors increased by 0.5 and 2.7 respectively, over March 2007. For the month, total retail sales were 295.6 billion kWh, a decrease of 10.9 billion kWh from February 2008 and an increase of 4.4 billion kWh when compared to March 2007. Year-to-date 2008, sales increased to 929.5 billion kWh, a 2.7 percent increase over the same period for 2007.
Revenue: The total retail revenues in March 2008 were $26.9 billion reflecting an increase of 5.1 percent over March 2007 revenues. The data suggest that the revenue increase was related to higher fuel costs. Total retail revenues for March 2008 decreased by $0.6 billion from February 2008 reflecting the similar comparison of sales for that time frame. The retail revenues for the residential sector for March 2008 increased 4.8 percent over March 2007, while the commercial and industrial sectors showed increases of 3.6 and 8.6 percent, respectively. Year-to-date 2008, revenue increased to $83.7 billion, a 5.7 percent increase over the same period for 2007. (Figure 4).
For more information, see the Electric Power Monthly report at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html.
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