Over the past few years, much of the money energy firms have invested in new generation has gone into renewable power sources like wind and solar. But when the wind stops blowing and the sun does not shine, gas is still needed to keep the lights on.
Wind power in the Lower 48 states produced about 335,753 megawatt hours (MWh) on July 22, the lowest since Oct. 4, 2021, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
When the wind did not blow, power companies usually burn more gas because it is the only big source of power they can turn to quickly to provide more energy to maintain reliability.
And with power demand expected to keep growing as technology firms build more data centers and consumers use more electricity to power cars and heat homes and businesses, reliability is becoming increasingly important following some deadly blackouts like the February freeze in 2021 that left millions in Texas without power, heat and water for days.
Wind farms are on track to produce an average of just 4% of power generation this week, down from 7% last week, 12% so far in 2024 and 10% in 2023. Gas-fired power plants are producing an average of 48% of generation this week, up from 46% last week, 40% so far in 2024 and 41% in 2023.
It is not unusual for wind power to decline during the summer months, but this has been a particularly bad month for wind.
Six of the 10 lowest days for wind power so far this year have occurred in July. That compares with just two of the 10 lowest days during the same period in 2023.
Wind produced about 11% of the nation's power in 2023 and is on track to produce about 11% in 2024 and 2025, according projections from the EIA.
But the amount of wind power produced has fallen to 425.0 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2023 from a record high of 434.0 billion kWh in 2022, the first annual decline in wind power produced since 1998. To be sure, EIA projects wind power will rise to 447.5 billion kWh in 2024.
That decline in wind power output is even more surprising considering how many new wind farms have been built in recent years.
Energy firms have added about 53.3 gigawatts (GW) of wind over the past five years (2019-2023), bringing total wind capacity up to around 147.6 GW by the end of 2023, according to EIA data. That is an average increase of about 9% a year over the past five years.
A gigawatt is enough power for about one million U.S. homes.
