EIA: Residential electricity price growth to slow to 1% in 2024

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by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) ago 0 views 

U.S. residential electricity prices are projected to rise by 1% in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). It’s the slowest year-over-year growth since 2020.

On Tuesday (Aug. 6), the EIA released the August Short-Term Energy Outlook, which shows that natural gas prices have declined since late 2023. The lower prices are factoring into retail electricity rates. Natural gas provides the largest share of U.S. electricity generation.

The international benchmark Brent crude oil price might increase to about $87 per barrel by the end of 2024, up from less than $80 per barrel. The EIA expects continued oil production cuts from OPEC+ to reduce global oil inventories through the first quarter of 2025, likely driving up the prices.

“The good news from a consumer perspective is that even though we expect oil prices to increase, we expect gasoline prices through this year and next year to remain lower than they were in 2023,” EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis said. “U.S. motorists are using less gasoline than they did before the pandemic, and we expect that to help keep gasoline prices from climbing with oil prices.”

Following are other highlights from the Short-Term Energy Outlook.
• About 2% less natural gas is expected to be consumed to generate electricity in the United States in August than in July as U.S. temperatures trend closer to normal and demand for air conditioning eases.

• U.S. natural gas consumption to generate electricity set a monthly record in July, even as Hurricane Beryl left millions of homes and businesses in Texas without electricity for several days in early July.

• U.S. jet fuel consumption is projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2025. The consumption is primarily driven by commercial air travel demand, which can be affected by economic activity, employment and the cost of air travel. Sources of uncertainty in the forecast include aircraft supply chain issues that could worsen aircraft shortages and air traffic controller shortages.