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Competitive Power Suppliers Sustain Progress:
Share of Electricity Generation Continues to Grow, Says EIA

Competitive generators (CGs) increased their share of total electricity generated to 31 percent in 2002, up from 27 percent, according to the Energy Information Administrations (EIA) latest Electric Power Monthly.

The April release updates the EIAs published statistics through January 2003. The most recent data show CGs (called Independent Power Producers by EIA) provided 31 percent of electricity generated, while utilities provided 65 percent.¹ Thats a change from 27 percent and 68 percent, respectively, the year before.

Efficiency Gains by Natural Gas Generation

The CG sector also has increased the efficiency of its gas-fueled generation, according to the report. Comparing January 2002 to January 2003, gas-fueled generation from the CG sector increased by nearly 8 percent.

However, the consumption of natural gas for generation went up by only 2 percent. The report credits increased efficiencies and utilization of new gas-fired capacity that began operations over the past year for the improvement.

For more information, the April 2003 Electric Power Monthly can be downloaded at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm.pdf, or contact EPSAs Douglas Austin at daustin@epsa.org, or call (202) 628-8200.


<hr size="1" noshade="">¹ The EIA accounts for the remaining generation in a separate category for Combined Heat and Power Producers.