Today in Energy

Commonly known as waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, facilities that burn municipal solid waste (MSW), or garbage, in boilers to produce steam are a small but steady source of electric power in the United States.

In 2022, the United States set a new record for petroleum product exports, up 7% from 2021, according to our Petroleum Supply Monthly. U.S. petroleum product exports averaged 5.97 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2022 (405,000 b/d more than in 2021) driven by an increase of 18% (193,000 b/d) in distillate fuel oil.

U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions drop 25% to 38% below what they were in 2005 by 2030, according to our projections in the Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023). We use 2005 as an emissions reference year because the United States' nationally determined contribution (NDC), submitted as part of the Paris Agreement, calls for a target of 50% to 52% of net greenhouse gas emissions below the 2005 level by 2030. It's important to note, however, that we only consider energy-related CO2 emissions, which does not cover the full NDC scope.

In 2021, 26% of eligible U.S. customers participated in their state's retail choice program, or 13.2 million U.S. residential electric customers, based on data from our Annual Electric Power Industry Report. The participation rate in U.S. residential retail choice programs remained relatively unchanged from 2019 to 2021, following several years of modest growth.

In 2022, U.S. natural gas consumption averaged a record 88.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)—the highest annual natural gas consumption, according to records beginning in 1949. U.S. natural gas consumption last year increased 5% (4.5 Bcf/d) from 2021, the second-fastest year-over-year growth since 2013. Natural gas consumption in the United States set monthly records in 9 of 12 months in 2022, based on our Natural Gas Monthly.