By JIM ROSS
The State Journal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With the price of natural gas going up, coal is reclaiming part of its market share in electricity generation.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration, coal accounted for about 59.42 million megawatts of power generated by utilities in April, up from about 53.48 million in April 2016. Natural gas produced about 42.42 million megawatts in April, down from 46.63 million a year ago.
That came as the price of natural gas rose from $2.42 per million Btu last April to $3.37 this year for utilities. The price of coal dropped 5 cents, from $2.16 million Btu last April to $2.11 this year.
Independent power producers had a smaller decrease in that time, from $1.99 to $1.98 for coal, while their price of gas increased by $1.09 to $3.18.
Through April, electric power producers had burned 150.4 million tons of coal, up from 142.9 million last year. They had burned 324.0 million cubic feet of natural gas, down from 364.6 million last year.
With the price of natural gas going up, coal is reclaiming part of its market share in electricity generation.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration, coal accounted for about 59.42 million megawatts of power generated by utilities in April, up from about 53.48 million in April 2016. Natural gas produced about 42.42 million megawatts in April, down from 46.63 million a year ago.
That came as the price of natural gas rose from $2.42 per million Btu last April to $3.37 this year for utilities. The price of coal dropped 5 cents, from $2.16 million Btu last April to $2.11 this year.
Independent power producers had a smaller decrease in that time, from $1.99 to $1.98 for coal, while their price of gas increased by $1.09 to $3.18.
Through April, electric power producers had burned 150.4 million tons of coal, up from 142.9 million last year. They had burned 324.0 million cubic feet of natural gas, down from 364.6 million last year.
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