How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?.Does EIA have forecasts or projections for energy production, consumption, and prices for individual states?.How many power plants are in the United States?.Does EIA publish energy consumption and price data for cities, counties, or by zip code?.energy production and consumption comes from renewable energy sources? carbon dioxide emissions are associated with electricity generation? What types and amounts of energy are produced in each state?.Does EIA have data on each power plant in the United States?.Can electric utility customers choose their electricity supplier?.Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand charge data?.How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?.What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?.How many smart meters are installed in the United States, and who has them?.How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatthour of electricity?.nuclear power plants, and when was the newest one built? Nuclear energy (historical monthly and annual data on the total number of U.S nuclear reactors, electricity generation capacity, electricity generation, and capacity factors) nuclear generation and generating capacity (historical monthly capacity and generation by state and reactor)Įlectricity generation, capacity, and sales in the United States What is the efficiency of different types of power plants?ĭoes EIA have data on each power plant in the United States?Ĭapacity factors for utility scale generators primarily using fossil fuelsĬapacity factors for utility scale generators not primarily using fossil fuels What is the difference between electricity generation capacity and electricity generation? Wind and solar power plant electricity generation and capacity factors are determined by availability of wind and solar energy on a daily and seasonal basis. Hydroelectric generation is affected by precipitation levels that vary seasonally.

(Exceptions are Hawaii, where petroleum fuels are major electricity generation sources, and in remote villages in Alaska that are supplied by diesel-fueled electricity generators.) Geothermal and biomass-fired power plants have the highest capacity factors among renewable power plants because their energy sources are relatively constant. Petroleum-fueled power plants have the lowest average monthly and annual capacity factors on a national level because they are generally operated to supply electricity during periods of very high electricity demand. Coal-fired power plant capacity factors have declined over time largely because of increases in natural-gas and renewable energy use for electricity generation. nuclear power plants reduce generation to refuel every 18 to 24 months, mostly in fall and spring when electricity demand is lower.

Nuclear power reactors have the highest average monthly and annual capacity factors because they usually operate at or near their rated electricity generating capacity throughout the year to provide base-load electricity generation. Details on how EIA calculates capacity factor are included on page 21 of the Electric Power Monthly Technical notes. Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes the average monthly and annual capacity factors for utility-scale electric power generators, which have a nameplate generation capacity of at least 1 MW, for generators primarily using fossil fuels and for generators not primarily using fossil fuels in Tables 6.07A and 6.07B respectively of the Electric Power Monthly. There are three categories of electricity generating capacity: nameplate capacity, net summer capacity, and net winter capacity.Ī measure of electricity generation capacity relative to electricity generation is capacity factor. Most power plants do not operate at full capacity every hour of every day of the year, and for many, their electricity generation capacity is different in summer and winter months because of seasonal variations in the temperature of generator cooling fluid (water or ambient air). If the power plant operates at that capacity continuously for 365 days, it will generate 876,000 MWh. For example, if a power plant with a single generator that has an electricity generation capacity of 100 Megawatts (MW) operates at that capacity continuously for 24 hours, it will generate 2,400 megawatthours (MWh) of electricity. The amount of electricity that a power plant generates depends on its electricity generation capacity and on the amount of time the individual generators at a power plant operate at a specific capacity.

How much electricity does a power plant generate?

Carbon dioxide mw