Natural gas expected to surpass coal in mix of fuel used for U.S. power in 2016

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Friday announced that natural gas-fired generation is expected to surpass coal generation on an annual basis starting in 2016.

The forecast was included in the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).

For decades, coal was the outright most-generated source for fuel in the United States. With advances in technology, natural gas generation first surpassed coal generation on a monthly basis in April. Generation shares for coal and natural gas were nearly identical in 2015, providing approximately one-third of all electricity generation.

Experts say that the rise in natural gas production was largely market driven due to the lowering of natural gas prices for production. Previously, from 2000-2008, coal provided approximately 50 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S. This changed in 2009 when large amounts of untapped natural gas produced from shale formations changed the balance of supply and demand for energy markets.

EIA expects natural gas to account for 33 percent of energy generation in 2016, compared to 32 percent for coal. Additionally, the expected share of non-hydroelectric renewables is expected to increased to eight percent in 2016, with hydropower’s share at six percent.