Slight Uptick in U.S. Coal-Fired Electricity Generation
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports the first projected rise in the generation of coal-fired electricity since 2014.
It’s small, but it shows that the U.S. Congress has been unable to get anywhere with respect to the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources.
Same has happened in the UK, however here, it is happening at a time when the availability of natural gas is extremely tight both for heating, and electricity generation. As a result of this shortage, the wholesale price of both electricity and gas have massively increased, and commercial entities entering into new electricity and gas contracts are now having to pay in some cases more than twice what they paid for a similar contract last year.
One silver lining, we are seeing a huge increase in interest in solar arrays and energy efficiency measures – not surprising when a commercial customer with a new (expensive) electricity contract, a large available rooftop and 24/7 demand sufficient to achieve 100% self consumption can pay for the solar array in around 24 to 30 months WITHOUT SUBSIDY IN THE UK.