US electricity generation falls two years in a row

• 14 years ago (2010-05-13)
• David Flin

North America 1021

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According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) Annual Energy Outlook Report, the global recession took a big chunk out of the USA’s electricity generation, with output down by 3 per cent compared to the previous year. This follows last year’s decline of 1 per cent, and is the first time in the 60 years of the report that electricity use fell in two consecutive years.

The report says that the key factor influencing US energy markets over the near future will be the pace of the economic recovery.

The total US primary energy consumption, if the country’s laws stay the same, will increase by 14 per cent from 2008 to 2030, representing an average annual growth rate of 0.5 per cent, only one fifth of the projected 2.4 per cent annual growth rate of the nation’s economic output.

The report also notes that while US consumption of liquid fuels will continue to grow over the next 25 years, reliance on petroleum imports will fall.