US New Generation 2004

The US added nearly 26,000 MW of nameplate new generating capacity in 2004, according to Platts POWERdat. These figures show a nearly 50% reduction in 2003 new generation additions of more than 52,000 MW.

Regionally, the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) added the largest amount of capacity, 4,800 MW and was followed by the Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC) at nearly 4,500 MW of new capacity.

An analysis by state shows Pennsylvania with the largest addition of capacity, just over 3,000 MW; Texas ran a close second with 2,951 MW of new power generation facilities. California was 14th on the list with 821 MW of new capacity. Ohio added nearly 2 MW to finish up the list of states adding capacity.

An analysis by fuel shows natural gas capacity additions totaled nearly 25,000 MW or more than 95% of the capacity added. Coal was a distant 2nd with 2.2% and wind came in at 1.5%. There were minor additions in capacity of oil, wood and solar powered generation.

Calpine was the largest corporation to add generation, nearly 3,000 MW followed by PG&E generating with just half that amount, approximately 1,400 MW.

There are currently just over 18,000 MW of capacity under construction and scheduled to come on-line in 2005 with an additional 11,000 MW of capacity in the planning stages for 2005 additions, according to Platts NEWGen database.

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