United States Energy Dashboard

Grid Summary

During 2006 renewable energy consumption reached its highest level since 1997, which was a record year for hydropower due to water availability. Hydropower is the second largest source of renewable energy consumption. Biomass and conventional hydroelectric power had the largest volumetric increases at 220 and 166 trillion BTu respectively, while wind energy consumption had the fastest annual rate of growth at almost 50 percent. The electric power sector continued to be the largest consumer of renewable energy in 2006 (55 percent of total), primarily due to the very large contribution of conventional hydroelectric power. The industrial sector was second (29 percent of the total), due to that sector's major consumption of wood and derived fuels. Geothermal and conventional hydropower played only minor roles in the industrial sector. The residential sector also consumed wood for space heating and solar energy for water heating and electricity. The commercial sector accounted for just 2 percent of total renewable energy consumption. The transportation sector was the fastest growing sector, consuming 40 percent more renewable fuel between 2005 and 2006. This is mainly due to increased ethanol consumption, by far the larger component of biofuels during those years. alone…more information.

In 2002, the United States generated 3,836 billion kilowatthours (Kwh) of electricity, including 3,673 billion Kwh from the electric power sector plus an additional 162 billion Kwh coming mainly from combined heat and power (CHP) facilities in the commercial and industrial sectors. For the electric power sector, coal-fired plants accounted for 52% of generation, nuclear 21%, natural gas 16%, hydroelectricity 7%, oil 2%, geothermal and "other" 1%. Natural gas-fired power plants have been gaining share rapidly over the past few years. Coal-fired power plants generally have been less attractive than natural-gas-fired plants due to relatively high capital costs, longer construction periods, and lower efficiencies than natural gas combined-cycle plants, and has been losing share. Nuclear power has been growing only slowly, far behind the rate of natural gas-fired power. On a national level, the average retail price of electricity during 2002 averaged 7.25 cents per Kwh, down slightly from 7.32 cents per Kwh in 2001. Electricity prices in the United States fell every year between 1993 and 1999, but this trend reversed in 2000 and 2001. As of 2001, U.S. total installed electric generating capacity was 813 gigawatts (GW). Of this total, 74% was thermal (mainly coal and natural gas), 12% nuclear, 12% hydro, and 2% "renewables" (geothermal, solar, wind). The amount and geographical distribution of capacity by energy source is a function of availability and price of fuels and/or regulations. Capacity by energy source generally shows a geographical pattern such as: significant nuclear capacity in New England, coal in the central U.S., hydroelectric in the Pacific West, and natural-gas-fired capacity in the Coastal South...more information.