Natural Gas Today

Wow how things have changed in the electric generation industry. In years past natural gas was not looked at as a baseload product, but rather a supplement, when it came to electric generation. Today all that has changed.

Natural gas has not only become a strong force in the energy industry, the Energy Information Administration reports that natural gas has become the cheapest source of power production. The EIA has calculated that to build a 1000 Megawatt gas fired power plant it would cost approximately $869 million. To construct a 1000MW coal plant would cost $2.72 billion and $4.64 billion for a nuclear plant of equal size.

Compressed natural gas powers more vehicles, busses and business fleets across America today than ever before. Exporting liquid natural gas has expanded the industry a great deal as well. Exploration for crude oil and natural gas may be down but production has kept the commodities at or near historic lows.

Yes it all looks good now for the consumer but how long will it last? That is a question I wish we could answer. Diversity is still the key to managing a smart power supply portfolio.