Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on January 17, 2015
Price of Electricity Hit Record High
Even as gasoline prices plummeted and the overall energy price index calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics declined, electricity prices bucked the trend in the United States in 2014.
Data released today by the BLS indicates that the electricity price indexes hit all-time highs for the month of December and for the year. 2014 was the most-expensive year ever for electricity in the United States.
The annual price index for electricity, published by BLS today, was 208.020. That was up from 200.750 in 2013.
The seasonally adjusted electricity price index for the month of December was 210.151, according to the BLS. That sets an all-time record for the seasonally adjusted monthly electricity price index. The previous high was 209.341 in March of this year. In December 2013, the seasonally adjusted electricity price index was 203.740.
The average price for a kilowatt hour of electricity in the United States was 13.5 cents in December. That is the highest average price for KWH of electricity in the month of December since the BLS started recording the December monthly price for a KWH in 1978. In December 2013, the average price for a KWH was 13.1 cents.
The average price for a KWH of electricity tends to hit its annual peak in the summer months, decline in the fall, hit its nadir in the winter and rise in the spring. In 2014, the average price for a KWH hit a record high for that particular month in each month of the year. In June, July and August of this year the average price of a KWH hit 14.3 cents—its all-time high for any months on record.
By contrast, the overall Consumer Price Index declined by 0.4 percent in December with particular help from the decline in the price of gasoline.
“The gasoline index continued to fall sharply, declining 9.4 percent and leading to the decrease in the seasonally adjusted all items index,” said the BLS in its press release on the CPI. “The fuel oil index also fell sharply, and the energy index posted its largest one-month decline since December 2008, although the indexes for natural gas and for electricity both increased.”
The BLS’s price indexes measure relative change in prices against a baseline of 100. The annual electricity price index exceeded 100 between 1983 and 1984, when it rose from 98.9 to 105.3. In the past two decades, the price of electricity in the United States has roughly doubled.
Rising electricity prices have not always been the norm in the United States. In 1913, the BLS annual electricity price index was 45.5. By 1946, it had dropped to 26.6. In 1974, it was still only 44.1—less than it had been six decades before in 1913.
The net production of electricity in the United States peaked in 2007, according to data published by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. That year, the United States generated 4,156,745 million KWH of electricity.
In 2013, that latest full year on record, the United States generated 4,058,209 million KWH of electricity—or about 2.4 percent less electricity than in 2007
The latest data from the Energy Information Administration, published in December, includes electricity generation numbers through the first nine months (January through September) of 2014. In those nine months of 2014, more electricity was generated (3,117,501 million KWH) than in the first nine months of 2013 (3,077,418 million KWH) or 2012 (3,095,504 million KWH), but less than in the first nine months of 2007 (3,166,614 million KWH).
The composition of the sources of electricity generation also changed between 2007–when the nation produced its peak volume of electricity–and 2014.
In the first nine months of 2007, the U.S. produced more electricity with coal (1,523,714 million KWH) than in the first nine months of 2014 (1,231,795 million KWH).
The U.S. also produced more electricity in the first nine months of 2007 with nuclear power (607,846 million KWH) and petroleum (53,802 million KWH) than it did in the first nine months of 2014, when it produced 596,174 million KWH and 24,953 million KWH from those source respectively.
By contrast the U.S. produced more electricity in the first nine months of 2014 than it did in the first nine months of 2007 by means of natural gas (844,743 million KWH to 688,035 million KWH), conventional hydroelectric (200,614 million KWH to 199,261 million KWH), wood (31,668 million KWH to 28,729 million KWH), waste (14,499 million KWH to 12,723 million KWH), geothermal power (12,170 million KWH to 10,967 million KWH), solar (14,271 million KWH to 532 million KWH), and wind (133,495 million KWH to 23,522 million KWH).
In the first nine months of 2014, solar power equaled about 0.46 percent of total electricity generation. Wind power equaled about 4.3 percent of total electricity production.
12 Comments on "Price of Electricity Hit Record High"
Bandits on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 6:29 pm
Fossil fuels as a power source are becoming more expensive as resources deplete and power stations age. Even nuclear is becoming more expensive as cheap ready made supplies dwindle.
Renewables are a bust when it comes to pricing as Spain and Germany discovered to the tune of many billions of dollars. So expecting prices to fall with the installation of renewable generation is a proven failure. But nearly every year we have record high global temperatures and “progress” demands increased power use, so prices will tend to increase to the maximum affordable, until that tactic comes adrift, when economic circumstances deliver the coup de grace.
As we all know the power grid, wind turbines and solar arrays are expensive to build and maintain and the utilities must make a profit or the music stops right there.
There are so many converging disasters awaiting for the Earth and its inhabitants, too many to list really but a few are resource depletion, over population, global warming, ocean acidification, species extinction, deforestation, soil depletion, air pollution, water pollution, drought, ozone depletion, ocean level rise and the rise of stupidity. If I have left your favourite out I sincerely apologise.
Any one of the coming disasters can wipe us all out. Solving one issue is not enough (except over population) and independent solutions invariably have consequences that affect the timing or severity of another disaster. We are truly in an unsolvable predicament.
Makati1 on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 7:53 pm
Well put, Bandit. Electric costs here in Makati, as of last month: $ .25/KWh. It bounces around that number depending on the variables. Has been as high as $ .29/KWh. Stop whining, America! You still have it good! For now.
Makati1 on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 10:10 pm
News on the techie front: “It’s not been a great week for Elon Musk. First he admits that Tesla sales in China were disappointing (which further tanked the stock down 15% in the last 3 weeks and over 36% off its record highs from last September) and then his SpaceX project suffered a significant setback in what Musk comedically called a “Full RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) event.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-17/caught-tape-elon-musks-spacex-rockets-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly-event
And the beat goes on…
dashster on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 10:10 pm
‘”progress” demands increased power use’
So does population growth. And the United States still sees that as part of the solution.
Kenz300 on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 10:54 pm
Solar and Wind Provide 70 Percent of New US Generating Capacity in November 2014
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/12/solar-and-wind-provide-70-percent-of-new-us-generating-capacity-in-november-2014
—————–
Utility-scale Solar Has Another Record Year in 2014
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/12/utility-scale-solar-has-another-record-year-in-2014
Bandits on Sat, 17th Jan 2015 11:47 pm
Kenz did you read it? It’s about the price of electricity. If you are claiming renewables are adding to the price rise then you would be correct. But then again you are a professional idiot so it doesn’t count.
rockman on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 6:00 am
“Renewables are a bust when it comes to pricing”. Depends where you are. So far in Texas it’s working great. NG sources e- is running about $0.125 per while wind is coming in at $0.025 per. But that didn’t just happen by throwing up some turbines. It took the right financing structure, consumer control and the state support for expanding the transmission system. Here are the details. Long piece but one has to see the entire dynamic to appreciate how the state that is the largest fossil fuel producer has become one of the largest alternative energy producers. It didn’t happen by accident: it took cooperation be between the utility companies, the consumers, the state gov’t and private enterprise:
“You thought you might never hear it, but wind power is becoming a formidable price competitor with fossil fuels in Texas, and Austin’s public utility is revamping its programs to suit.
In the year 2000, Austin Energy unrolled a program giving consumers the option to fund wind energy development and the city became a recognized leader in energy innovation.
The GreenChoice program let homes and businesses pay slightly more for their power and buy directly from wind farms, hoping to finance and encourage development.
It worked so well that, by 2009, it was in trouble, and the program was scaled back. Texans in Austin and beyond were demanding more wind energy than power lines could carry, and clogged transmission infrastructure sent prices skyrocketing.
When GreenChoice premiered, consumers opting for wind energy could lock into a ten-year fixed price just six cents per kilowatt-hour more than the standard cost at the time. By 2009 the difference had risen to $2.05, due largely to transmission overload.
The revamped program reflects the new reality of wind power in Texas. How much more per kilowatt-hour are GreenChoice customers asked to pay today? Just one cent.
Wind turbines in West Texas help produce record amounts of electricity for the state. That’s thanks to almost $8 billion in publicly funded upgrades that connected the state’s western wind farms and its cities with high-volume power lines. The project opened up vast new markets for Texas’ burgeoning wind industry, allowed the easy transmission of clean energy across hundreds of miles, and brought the price of clean energy closer to that of conventional fuels.
Outside of Austin, San Antonio, El Paso and a few other places, most of Texas is a deregulated energy market where consumers can shop for power providers like they would for cable TV. Across the state, many private utilities are offering opportunities for eco-conscious customers to pay slightly more for clean energy.
Austin Energy SupplyPaying for clean energy doesn’t mean that wind power is delivered directly to your house, though. Texas has a statewide energy grid – like one big pool filled by many generators – so electricity you get from power lines may come from many sources. Paying for clean energy means that wind (or solar) generators will put into the power grid as much as you take out.
Austin Energy buys wind energy from eight wind farms, the oldest of which began operation in 1995. In addition the city gets power from shares of one solar field, three biomass generators, a nuclear plant, a coal plant and three natural gas plants.
The utility currently meets 21 percent of energy demand through renewable sources and plans to meet 35 percent by 2020.
Davy on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 6:36 am
I would be curious how the application of Short’s Hill’s Group analysis using ETP (Total Production Energy) model on all those electric power generation inputs factor out? This model is somewhat controversial here on PO but I for one am sold on its thesis. We are seeing results of this analysis following the projections forecasts. Would we see a similar decline as we are seeing with oil’s deliverable energy to the economy per the consumer’s ability to pay in the global electricity sectors?
Coal, especially recently, has suffered a number of setbacks due to a variety of factors of which production costs, environmental issues, and replacement generation with gas are a few. NUK capacity is so costly to build out anymore we may have hit Peak NUK. AltE’s are a complex study on eroi and systematic grid integration. AltE’s have developed enough that we are seeing there are problems with declining sweet spots, grid integration, and potential production cost issues. NatGas has had massive supply increase and grid applications yet, oil ETP decline surely will find NatGas a function of this process. Hydro is mostly built out with few new locations. Many older hydro plants are suffering from AGW flow changes. Hydro has social and political costs. Refurbishing hydro sites are cost prohibitive. Some of the other renewables sources like biomass are small additions.
One of the biggest challenges facing electricity generation is grid maintenance and build out. There is a huge fixed cost with the complex grid structures globally. In a time of limits of growth and diminishing returns of investments how will these grid issues translate into cost to the consumer is my mind is a huge question. The systematic issues of a complex grid balance in an unstable energy delivery world will increasingly be an issue IMO. Just refer to a country like Pakistan that has irregular electricity delivery as what could become more widespread with the effects of depletion.
It is said the electrical grid is man’s most complex creation. The grid will be the canary in the coal mine along with oil indicating whether depletion will be the issue it appear to be. I fear this is a near term event with the effects becoming apparent now. I call this the end of the bumpy plateau and the very start of the bumpy descent. The descent could be very rapid or it could be a Kunstler long emergency. The nature of descent being random, dysfunctional, with irrational abandonment is impossible to forecast but we do know possible scenarios. None of these scenarios are good in a world of carrying capacity overshoot from overpopulation and limits of growth.
Makati1 on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 9:34 am
Kenz…
http://www.powermag.com/u-s-faces-wave-of-premature-nuclear-retirements/
Kenz300 on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 10:32 am
Renewable energy gets cheaper every year……
Once installed there are no monthly fuel bills and no price increases for that fuel……….
Dizzying Renewable Energy Price Declines Can Help States Meet Ambitious Carbon Targets Under The EPA’s Clean Power Plan
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/12/dizzying-renewable-energy-price-declines-can-help-states-meet-ambitious-carbon-targets-under-the-epas-clean-power-plan
rockman on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 11:43 am
Greg – Grid build out in Texas wasn’t a problem: spend $8 billion and POOF!…the grid is built out. LOL.
GregT on Sun, 18th Jan 2015 9:50 pm
“Greg – Grid build out in Texas wasn’t a problem:……………”
Sorry Rock,
If you were addressing me, I didn’t comment on this article?