A total of 27.3 gigawatts (GW) new natural gas-fired are scheduled to come online in the United States between 2022 and 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Monthly Electric Generator Inventory.
This is a 6 percent increase from August’s baseline capacity of 489.1 GW.
Many of the planned natural gas-fired capacity additions are located in the Appalachia region close to major shale plays as well as in Texas and in Florida.
The Appalachia region stretches across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, and includes the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.
Over the past several years, these shale plays have led the growth in U.S. natural gas production, and were 34 percent of U.S. dry natural gas production in the first half of 2021.
Four states – Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois – have pipeline access to natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. These states account for a combined 43% of the natural gas-fired capacity planned to come online
Pennsylvania has the fewest planned additions, only 1.9 GW. Illinois has the most at 3.8 GW, followed by Michigan, 3.2 GW, and Ohio, 2.9 GW.
In addition, natural gas transport infrastructure is expected to continue to increase the region’s pipeline takeaway capacity.