Natural gas-fired and renewable generation increased across the U.S. in July while generation from coal continued to fall.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest "Electric Power Monthly" released Sept. 24, utility-scale generation net of hydroelectric pumped storage fell 0.4% year over year in July to 411.6 million MWh.
Natural gas's share of July generation was 42.3%, up from 40.5% in July 2018, while coal's share fell to 24.5% from 27.9%.
Renewable output climbed 12.0% year over year to 60.4 million MWh as growth among renewable resources was mixed. Conventional hydro generation saw a 4.6% decline, while generation from solar and other renewables climbed 19% and 27%, respectively.
Year-to-date through July, utility-scale generation declined 2.0% to 2.38 billion MWh, with coal supplying 24.0% of the nation's power and natural gas at a 36.6% share. So far, renewable generation has supplied 18.6% of the nation's power, compared with 18.2% a year earlier.
Over the same period, coal-fired generation declined 13.1% year over year to 571.1 million MWh, while gas-fired generation climbed 5.7% to 871.3 million MWh. Renewable generation declined 0.3% to 442.4 million MWh.

Power-sector coal stockpiles fell by 5.8 million tons during the month, below the 10-year average draw of 11.0 million tons. During the prior 10 years, July stockpile fluctuations versus the prior month have ranged from a draw of 2.1 million tons to 17.9 million tons.
The EIA estimates that the July stockpile level of 110.7 million tons translates to 94 days of burn and 63 days of burn, respectively, for bituminous and sub-bituminous coal, 26.7% above and 5.1% below the five-year averages for the month.

