Energy Information Administration, March 15, 2010

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html

According to the latest edition of EIA's "Electric Power Monthly," hydropower provided 6.89% of U.S.-generated electricity in 2009 while non-hydro renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) contributed 3.57% for a combined total of 10.46%. By comparison, non-hydro renewables accounted for 3.06% of electrical generation in 2008 and 2.53% in 2007 while hydropower provided 6.19% in 2008 and 5.95% in 2007. In terms of electricity actually generated, non-hydro renewables in 2009 increased by 11.81% over 2008 levels and by 34.09% over 2007 levels; while hydropower's 2009 output rose by 6.79% over 2008 and by 9.95% over 2007. For 2009, wind accounted for just over half (50.14%) of electrical generation from non-hydro renewable energy sources followed by biomass (38.50%), geothermal (10.78%) and solar (0.58%). On the other hand, nuclear power's contribution to the nation's electrical generation in 2009 dropped by 1.17% from its 2008 level and by 1.20% from its 2007 level. For details, see tables ES1.A, ES1.B, and 1.1.

Executive Summary

Generation: Net generation in the United States rose 1.9 percent from December 2008 to December 2009. This was the first month since July 2008 that net generation rose compared to the same calendar month in the prior year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that none of the nine climate regions across the contiguous United States averaged warmer than normal temperatures in December 2009. As such, based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI), the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 4.9 percent above average for December and population-weighted heating degree days for the Nation were 6.1 percent above the average for the month of December and 5.2 percent above the value of December 2008. However, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production was 2.0 percent lower than it had been in December 2008, the18th consecutive month that same-month industrial production was lower than it had been in the previous year.

The drop in nuclear generation was the largest absolute fuel-specific decline from December 2008 to December 2009 as it fell 2,490 thousand megawatthours or 3.4 percent. One of the units at the San Onofre generating station in California was off-line in December for a steam generator replacement and refueling. The generation drop at San Onofre accounted for 29.3 percent of the national nuclear decline. The December decline in coal-fired generation was the smallest of 2009. From January through November, the decline in coal-fired generation across the United States was 12.1 percent. In December it was only 0.3 percent lower. Generation from natural gas-fired plants was 11.2 percent higher than it was in December 2008 and was the largest absolute fuel-specific increase in December, rising 7,206 thousand megawatthours. Jumps in gas-fired generation in Texas, Florida, and Alabama accounted for 60.6 percent of the national increase.

Generation from conventional hydroelectric sources was up by 18.8 percent from December 2008 to December 2009, and accounted for the second-largest absolute fuel-specific increase, as generation from hydroelectric sources was up 3,931 thousand megawatthours. NOAA reports that December 2009 was the eleventh wettest December on record, and that the Southeast experienced its wettest December on record. Increased hydroelectric generation in Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina accounted for 55.6 percent of the national increase.

Wind generation was down 5.2 percent. Petroleum liquid-fired generation was down 55.4 percent compared to a year ago, and its overall share of net generation continued to be quite small compared to coal, nuclear, natural gas-fired, and hydroelectric sources. Figure 1 shows net generation by month for the last 12 months.

Year-to-date, total net generation was down 4.1 percent from 2008 levels. Net generation attributable to coal-fired plants was down 11.1 percent. Nuclear generation was down 1.2 percent. Generation from petroleum liquids was down 19.2 percent, while natural gas-fired generation was up by 4.2 percent year-to-date. The year-to-date wind generation total was up 27.8 percent. Wind continues to be the largest source of non-hydroelectric renewable electricity.

Year-to-date, coal-fired plants contributed 44.7 percent of the Nation’s electric power. Nuclear plants contributed 20.2 percent, while 23.3 percent was generated at natural gas-fired plants. Of the 1.0 percent generated by petroleum-fired plants, petroleum liquids represented 0.7 percent, with the remainder from petroleum coke. Conventional hydroelectric power provided 6.9 percent of the total, while other renewables (biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind) and other miscellaneous energy sources generated the remaining 3.9 percent of electric power (Figure 2).

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