Electricity Price Index Soars to New Record at Start of 2014; U.S. Electricity Production Declining

CNS News ^ | February 21, 2014 | Terence P. Jeffrey

[george76]

The electricity price index soared to a new high in January 2014 with the largest month-to-month increase in almost four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, data from the Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, indicates that electricity production in the United States has declined since 2007, when it hit its all-time peak. The U.S. is producing less electricity than it did seven years ago for a population that has added more than 14 million people.

...

Between 2007 and 2012, the nation's annual coal-fired electricity generation declined by about 25 percent, or 502,413 million KWH. The combined increases in natural gas, wind and solar did not make up for this decline.

...

Coal was not the only source that produced less electricity in 2012 than in 2007, according to the EIA data. Electricity from nuclear power plants dropped from 806,425 million KWH in 2007 to 769,331 in 2012—a decline of 37,094 million KWH or 4.6 percent.

Electricity generated from petroleum sources dropped from 65,739 million KWH in 2007 to 23,190 million KWH in 2012—a decline of 42,549 million KWH or about 64.7 percent.

Conventional hydroelectric means of generating electricity hit their peak in 1997, a decade before overall electricity generation peaked in the United States. In that year, the U.S. produced 385,946 million KWH of electricity through conventional hydroelectric power. By 2012, that had dropped to 276,240 million KWH, a decline of 109,706 million KWH or 28.4 percent.

[DannyTN]

And that's what is driving the decline of energy use - the decline of heavy industry.

I think you're right. That and the already ridiculously high prices for electricity make us ever more aware of our usage.

I think McCain was right. We needed to build nuclear plants and lots of them.

[bigbob]

No, it’s because we’re becoming more efficient in using electricity. Most FReepers just like to make fun of it, but switchmode power supplies, LED and LCD displays, and LED/CFL lighting have allowed us to expand the population while using less energy. What’s not to like?

[bigbob]

"The majority of electric power is consumed by the industry, not by households." Not true.

If you look at total quads, residential is larger. If you look just at electricity, residential is still larger.

But the point is moot, because the same factors that are improving efficiency in homes are doing the same in commercial and industrial users. Only moreso in some cases, such as the shift from pneumatic and hydraulic power to electric motors controlled by highly-efficient variable speed drives that actually reduce energy consumption in comparison with wasteful mechanical systems and transmissions.

Energy efficiency is good. If for no other reason that it means our coal will last longer.

[fhayek]

Man, you said it. He was so geeked up about infrastructure. Well, there is no more important infrastructure than the power grid.

[tcrlaf]

Well, it is what the TV told the Sheeple to vote for, after all...
And it’s not like Obama didn’t warn them what he would do.

OH WAIT...
Am I a racist for remembering Obama’s actual words?

[tcrlaf]

“Part of obama’s plan to subjugate America. Cold and starving people are more compliant ... ask the NKs.”

Or the Ukrainians, or the Chinese, or the Gulag dwellers, etc...

[Greysard]

If you look at total quads, residential is larger. If you look just at electricity, residential is still larger.

I am not sure if I'm adding the numbers correctly, but per my calculations I get this:

Electric:
Industrial + Commercial: 25%
Residential: 15%

Total energy:
Industrial + Commercial + Transportation: 74%
Residential: 26%

There isn't much point in separating Industrial and Commercial because they are essentially the same. A commercial warehouse is using an industrial refrigerator, not a residential one; this is done for business purposes, and it is an investment that gives you a return. Residential use has no business purpose, and there is no ROI. Residential use is not productive; it does not make the country richer. Grouping residential and commercial together, as on that chart, is unreasonable.

[HarleyD]

There is a reason they took food and fuel out of the mix when they calculate the inflation index. These two things are skyrocketing and are what affects people’s budgets the most. Yet we’re told inflation is only at 1.6 percent.

[Organic Panic]

Skyrocketing to the good times. Forward

[Yorlik803]

And all those coal miners who backed “His Highness” are now screwed.

[Carry_Okie]

This is what was done to California in 2002.

[nascarnation]

Rolling blackouts/brownouts will be commonplace it seems.

Not necessarily. It appears we are going to ration by price and availability. High prices will definitely force conservation.

[vpintheak]

Yep. Unions are a horrible thing.