According to a US Energy Information Administration report, electric power generation in the US dipped by 4.1% from 2008 to 2009, the largest decline in sixty years, reflecting a 2.6% fall in gross domestic product.

EIA said that the drop marks a decline in power generation for two consecutive years, the first time since 1949. The decline in overall electricity consumption was mostly attributed to the 9.1 % fall in the industrial demand for electricity. A reduction in the amount of coal burned to generate electricity cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 8.6%, nitrogen oxides by over 28%, and sulfur dioxide by 23.8%, the largest declines on record.

The report highlighted what energy analysts have been saying for over a year, increasing coal prices and declining natural gas prices, combined with surplus capacity at highly efficient combined cycle gas plants resulted in coal to gas switching, primarily in the Southeast and Pennsylvania.

EIA said that coal fired power generation declined 11.6% from 2008 to 2009, bringing coal's share of the electric power output to 44.5%, the lowest level since 1978. The capacity factor, which measures how often a generator is producing power, for the coal plants dropped sharply from 72.2% in 2008 to 63.8% in 2009. Natural gas fired generation increased 4.3% in 2009, raising its share of total generation to 23.3% the highest level since 1970.

Wind power meanwhile has remained the fastest growing source of new generation for several years. In 2009, generation from wind power increased 33.5% over 2008, bringing its share of total generation to 1.9%. At the end of 2009, EIA said there were about 34,300 MWs of wind power installed in the country. In 2009, the nation's generating capacity grew 1.5% to 1,025 gigawatts with the addition of about 9,600 MW of wind and 3,800 MW of gas.

EIA also said 13 mostly small new coal plants entered service in 2009. Between 2010 and 2014, EIA said power producers planned to add about 72,200 MW of capacity. Of that, 34,800 MW will be natural gas fired, 16,700 MW will be coal fired and just 11,600 MW will be wind power, despite concerns about global warming and power plant emissions.

Finally, power traders had another tough year. EIA said wholesale purchases declined about 10.4% to 5,029 million megawatt hours in 2009. That is well below the market peak of 8,755 million MWh in 2002 before the financial failure of many marketers and contraction of trade following the collapse of Enron in 2001.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)