Natural gas-fired power replacing coal-fired electricity in Pennsylvania

According to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas-fired power plants have replaced coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the last two decades.

In 2001, natural gas accounted for 2 percent of the electricity produced in the state, but by 2021, it accounted for 52 percent of the electricity generation. Coal-fired power production fell from 57 percent of the electricity generated in 2001 to 12 percent in 2021.

The report said natural gas production has grown significantly, from 0.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2001 to 7.6 Tcf in 2021. The amount it produces puts the state second in the country, falling behind Texas. Because of its position atop the Marcellus shale, the state is located along the largest natural gas field in the United States. Officials said advances in natural gas production, like fracking and horizontal drilling, have made natural gas production more economical.

As natural gas production was increasing, the report said, coal production was decreasing, falling from 74.1 million tons in 2001 to 42.5 million tons in 2021, a decline of 40 percent.

Increased production made natural gas more available and more cost-effective, which spurred the switch by utilities and power plants to close coal-fired power facilities and replace them with natural gas-fired combined-cycle plants that are more efficient and economical to operate, the report said. With fewer power plants using coal, coal production across the state began to drop off.

“Although coal’s generation share started declining in Pennsylvania in 2007, it remained the largest source of in-state electricity generation until 2015, when nuclear power surpassed coal,” the report said. “Pennsylvania is home to eight nuclear reactors at four nuclear power plants; the second-highest share of electricity from nuclear power plants is generated in Pennsylvania, more than any other state except Illinois. In 2019, the remaining reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant closed, and as a result, along with significant investment in new combined-cycle natural gas plants, natural gas consumption surpassed nuclear as Pennsylvania’s largest source of in-state electricity generation.”