Nat Gas News – May 15, 2017

Nat Gas News – May 15, 2017

In the News

US Northeast states are devouring natural gas for electricity, and that’s a problem for coal

CNBC reports: The Northeast U.S. states — a vast market that generates and consumes much of America’s annual electricity — is gradually using less coal to fire up its electricity plants. In part of what the Energy Information Administration called a dramatic 10-year shift, the nine states that comprise the Northeastern U.S.’s energy grid have collectively doubled the share of natural gas used to generate electricity— even as the region churned out slightly less power from 2006- 2016. Simultaneously, coal-fired power tumbled from 31 percent to 11 percent, the EIA said in a report. “Increased access to lowcost natural gas from the Marcellus Shale and other regional shale plays has driven the switch away from coal in the Northeast United States,” the EIA said in a study last week. Analysts note that the cheaper and more plentiful natural gas becomes, the more incentive there is for producers to abandon coal. “Environmental policies at the federal and regional level, such as production tax credits, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and renewable portfolio standards, have also contributed to the decline in coal generation,” the agency added. For more visit CNBC.com or click the following link http://cnb.cx/2rijIK7

Cleveland Thermal moves from coal to natural gas

Cleveland. com reports: Heating downtown buildings with steam once involved wagon loads of seasoned local firewood, then rail cars of Ohio coal and finally cleaner, but still dirty, Kentucky coal. Today the steam coursing under downtown city streets heating 94 buildings is fueled by shale gas from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Cleveland Thermal, now owned by the privately held Corix Group of British Columbia, Canada, has gone 100 percent natural gas. For more visit cleveland.com or click the following link http://bit.ly/2pBwt5i