A US Energy Information Administration report released recently shows that natural gas-fired power generation for the US is down by 14% in the first 7 months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. According to the report, this decrease is due to the higher price of natural gas relative to its competitor, coal. High generation of natural fired-gas in 2012 was a result of the lowest spot natural gas prices in ten years, causing both coal and natural gas to equal the same portion of the total generation amount in April 2012.
Both the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic areas have used substantially lower amounts of natural gas to this date in 2013. The EIA also stated that the competition for fuel is not as fierce in areas of the nation where the delivered price of coal is low or where it fuels a small amount of the total generation.
For more information, read the original article here: http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pe/2013/09/eia-natural-gas-fired-power-generation-down-14-for-first-7-months-of-2013.html