The drop in nuclear generation was the largest absolute fuel-specific decline from December 2008 to December 2009 as it fell 2,490 thousand megawatthours or 3.4 percent.
Generation from natural gas-fired plants was 11.2 percent higher than it was in December 2008 and was the largest absolute fuel-specific increase in December, rising 7,206 thousand megawatthours.
Generation from conventional hydroelectric sources was up by 18.8 percent from December 2008 to December 2009, and accounted for the second-largest absolute fuel-specific increase, as generation from hydroelectric sources was up 3,931 thousand megawatthours.
Wind generation was down 5.2 percent. Petroleum liquid-fired generation was down 55.4 percent compared to a year ago, and its overall share of net generation continued to be quite small compared to coal, nuclear, natural gas-fired, and hydroelectric sources. Figure 1 shows net generation by month for the last 12 months.
Figure 1: Net Generation by Major Energy Source:
Total (All Sectors), January 2009 through December 2009
Year-to-date, total net generation was down 4.1 percent from 2008 levels.
Net generation attributable to coal-fired plants was down 11.1 percent.
Nuclear generation was down 1.2 percent.
Generation from petroleum liquids was down 19.2 percent, while natural gas-fired generation was up by 4.2 percent year-to-date.
The year-to-date wind generation total was up 27.8 percent. Wind continues to be the largest source of non-hydroelectric renewable electricity.
Year-to-date energy of the total by sector
- Coal-fired plants contributed 44.7%
- Nuclear plants contributed 20.2%
- Natural gas-fired plants 23.3%
- Conventional hydroelectric 6.9%
- Renewables 3.9% (biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind)
Figure 4: Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers
by End-Use Sector, Year-to-Date through December 2009 and 2008
CO2?...even with increases in 2010 and 2011, projected CO2 emissions in 2011 are lower than annual emissions from 1999 through 2008.