It’s been a while since we have shared the latest Short Term Energy Outlook from the Department of Energy. Well, here it is! The information we share below was taken from a report released on May 12th, 2015.
From looking over the report with respect to electricity rates, it shows that the market continues to be stable with plenty natural gas on hand.
As you can read in the excerpts below, we see a projection of 1 to 2 percent increase in the electricity rates this year and 2016. You can see from the graph above that rates have been experiencing only very slight increases for several years now.
It’s worth noting that the chart shows the average electricity rate in the U.S. The average electricity rate in Texas is a bit lower than the national average.
If you have any questions about this report or about electricity rates in Round Rock, TX, please give us a call.
Read electricity related excerpts below – you can review the full report at the Energy Information Administration website.
Electricity Retail Prices
EIA expects continued growth in average U.S. residential electricity prices over the forecast period, but at a slower pace than last year. The forecast U.S. retail residential price increases by 1.6% in 2015 and by 1.8% in 2016. Industrial electricity prices, which are more responsive to changes in fuel costs, are expected to fall by 2.4% in 2015 and then rise by 1.2% in 2016.
Electricity Generation
Total U.S. generation of electricity is forecast to average about 11,340 GWh/d in 2015, which is 1.2% higher than total generation last year. The use of coal for power generation stays low by historical standards as the forecast natural gas price at Henry Hub remains below $3/MMBtu through August. Lower use of existing coal capacity, combined with some coal retirements and regular seasonal maintenance, reduce projected U.S. coal generation in April and May so that its share of total generation is only 1.2 percentage points higher than the natural gas generation share. This is the closest convergence in generation shares between the two fuels since April 2012. EIA forecasts coal’s share of U.S. total generation will be 35.8% in 2015, down from 38.7% in 2014. In contrast, the natural gas fuel share averages 30.7% this year, up from 27.4% in 2014.
