January US coal-fired generation falls 10.2% on month, 35.5% on year: EIA

US power generation from coal totaled 65.17 TWh in January, down 10.2% from December and 35.5% lower than the year-ago month, Energy Information Administration data showed Tuesday.

The figure was the second-lowest month in over 44 years, only higher than 60.1 TWh generated in April 2019.

Total US power generation during January was at 339.32 TWh, up 0.6% from the prior month but 5.1% lower than the year-ago month. It was also down 5.1% from the five-year average and was the lowest total generation for the corresponding month since 328.66 TWh in January 2006.

Coal made up just 19.2% of the power generation in January, while natural gas generation was at 39.2%, compared with 21.5% of US generation from coal and 38.4% from gas in December. In the year-ago month, coal's power generation share was at 28.2%, while gas was at 33.3%.

Natural gas generation in January was at 132.98 TWh, up 2.8% from a month earlier and 11.8% higher than the year-ago month. It was the highest power generation from gas in the month of January in over 47 years.

Nuclear generation was at 74.2 TWh in January, up 1.5% from December and 0.7% higher than the year-ago month. Nuclear made up 21.9% of the generation share in January, up from 21.7% in December and 21.2% in January 2019.

RENEWABLE GENERATION BELOW COAL IN JANUARY

Generation from renewables, including hydro and solar, was at 63.46 TWh in January, up 7.2% from December and 5.6% from the year-ago month.

Renewable's power generation share was at 18.7%, up from 17.5% in December and 16.8% a year ago.

Wind generation was at 28.4 TWh in January, up 4.5% month on month and 12.9% higher than a year ago.

Utility solar generation was at 4.56 TWh, up 30.4% from a month earlier and up 24.7% from the year-ago month.

Generation from wind and solar made up 8.4% and 1.3% of the total power in January, respectively, up from 8.1% and 1% in December, and 7% and 1% in the year-ago month.