Unchanged from its prior monthly outlook, retail electricity sales in the U.S. are anticipated to climb through 2019 to average 10.34 million MWh per day.
The latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook" released Feb. 6 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows retail power sales are expected to rise 205,000 MWh/d to 10.29 million MWh/d this year. Of this 2018 total, 38.0% will go to residential customers, 36.2% will go to commercial customers and 25.7% will go to industrial customers.
The EIA predicts that sales in 2019 to residential, commercial and industrial customers will account for 37.9%, 36.2% and 25.7% of U.S. retail sales, respectively.
The agency projects power production will average 11.1 million MWh/d in 2018 before increasing 0.8% in 2019 to 11.2 million MWh/d.
According to the outlook, coal will supply 29.7% of the country's electricity in 2018, natural gas will provide 33.0% and nuclear generation will supply 19.6%, in line with the prior monthly forecast. The EIA projects renewable resources will provide 16.5% of the nation's power, with hydro generation supplying 746,000 MWh/d and other renewable resources accounting for 1.1 million MWh/d.
The EIA forecasts that in 2019, coal will provide 28.8% of the country's power to natural gas' share of 33.9%. The prior forecast had coal's 28.1% share behind natural gas' 34.3% share. In 2019, nuclear generation is likely to provide 19.2% of the nation's electricity, while renewable resources should supply 17.0%.
Declining 0.8% in 2017, the EIA said total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions are expected to rebound 1.8% this year and increase 0.4% in 2019.
