Natural gas power burns rose to record levels in July and have so far accelerated those gains in early August, defying some forecasts that growth would flatten in the second half of the year.
Lower 48 natural gas-fired electricity generation averaged 48.1 Bcf/d last month, up about 1.1 Bcf/d from July 2023, according to Wood Mackenzie data. That was slightly behind the more than the 1.3 Bcf/d growth rate for the first seven months of the year.
In July, the Midwest accounted for the biggest share of the gains in power burns, up about 0.8 Bcf/d from a year earlier. The East rose about 0.7 Bcf/d and the Mountain region was up about 0.4 Bcf/d. The renewables-heavy South Central region accounted for most of the month’s declines, off by 0.7 Bcf/d. Pacific burns were marginally lower.
