This link has been bookmarked by 12 people . It was first bookmarked on 21 Nov 2006, by Reid.
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21 Apr 11
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21 Mar 11
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07 Dec 10
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Nuclear power generation accounted for 20.2 percent of the electricity generated in 2009, a 0.9-percent decrease from the prior year. The decline in nuclear generation in 2009 is the result of scheduled and unscheduled plant outages and derates
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Nuclear and fossil capacity factors. The capacity factor is a measure of how consistently a generator is producing power: it represents the ratio of actual generation during a time period (typically a year) to the maximum possible generation assuming continuous full-load output. Baseload plants, which have high utilization rates due primarily to low variable operating costs, typically operate at capacity factors of 70 percent or higher. Intermediate plants, which have higher variable operating costs, typically vary their output during the day to meet changes in load. The most expensive peaking plants may operate rarely and only to meet the highest peaks, usually in the summer or winter.
Due to decreased demand for electricity, the average capacity factor for many fuels fell in 2009 (Table 5.2). Nuclear power plants (which in the United States are universally operated as baseload units because of their very low fuel costs) maintained a high capacity factor (90.3 in 2009). The capacity factor for coal plants, which make up the bulk of U.S. baseload capacity but can also operate in load-following mode,14 dropped sharply (8.4 percentage points) in 2009, from 72.2 percent to 63.8 percent.
The vast majority of natural gas capacity in the United States operates as load-following or peaking units. In 2009, coal-to-gas switching increased the usage of combined-cycle natural gas generators; the capacity factor for these units increased from 40.6 percent in 2008 to 42.5 percent in 2009.
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21 May 10
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06 May 10
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28 Jan 09
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26 Jan 09
Energy NetIn 2007, average retail electricity prices increased 2.6 percent from 8.9 to 9.1 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) This followed a 3-year period during which average fossil fuel prices for electricity generation increased a cumulative 30.2 percent. As fuel prices increased 30.2 percent, the National average retail price of electricity increased 17.0 percent from 7.6 cents per kWh in 2004 to 8.9 per kWh in 2006. Fossil fuel prices increased an additional 7.0 percent in 2007, contributing to the 2.6 percent average retail electricity rate.
Both the number of residential and commercial customers increased 1.2 percent over 2006 levels. Residential and commercial customer growth, along with a modest increase in average consumption per residential and commercial customer, resulted in a 3.0 percent increase in residential electricity sales and a 2.8 percent increase in commercial electricity sales in 2007. Residential and commercial sales accounted for 69.5 percent of total retail sales. When all sales to ultimate consumers are considered (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, other and direct use), electricity sales increased by 2.8 percent in 2007. In 2006, total sales increased only 0.2 percent from the prior year. -
17 Mar 08
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21 Nov 06
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