US Natural Gas Power Generation Hits Record -- August 27, 2020

Link here to EIA: this is quite incredible. Not unanticipated. Coal is out. Nuclear is dying.

In the United States, natural gas consumed by electric power plants (power burn) set a daily record high of 47.2 billion cubic feet on Monday, July 27, 2020, according to S&P Global Platts estimates. 

Consequently, on the same day, natural gas-fired generation in the Lower 48 states also reached an all-time high of 316 gigawatts in the late afternoon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Hourly Electric Grid Monitor.

Before July 27, 2020, the record for U.S. natural gas power burn to generate electricity stood at 45.4 Bcf, and it was set on August 6, 2019. Natural gas power burn exceeded 45.4 Bcf per day on seven days in July 2020 and one day in August. Electricity demand in response to high summer temperatures throughout much of the country, relatively low natural gas prices, the start of new natural gas-fired capacity, and greater use of existing natural gas-fired capacity have contributed to increased natural gas consumption in the electric power sector.

Natural gas priced at the benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana averaged $1.73 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for natural gas delivered on July 27, according to Natural Gas Intelligence. From June 1 to July 30, Henry Hub prices averaged $1.64/MMBtu, 30% lower than the prices during the same period in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, this average price is the lowest average price for this period since at least 1993, the earliest data in Natural Gas Intelligence’s daily price series.