API highlights EIA report on lowering electricity costs due to natural gas

The American Petroleum Institute (API) recently reiterated its position on the benefits of increased domestic national gas production following a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that shows consumers are paying less for electricity due to natural gas abundance.
 
“EIA’s latest report on electricity prices shows that American consumers are benefiting from clean, abundant natural gas,” API Executive Vice President Louis Finkel said.
 
According to the report, the first half of 2016 saw American electricity customers pay an average of 12.4 cents per kilowatt, which represents a 0.7 percent reduction from 2015 levels.

This downward trend, if continued, could see 2016’s annual figures on electricity prices decline from the previous year, which would be the first time such a reduction has occurred since 2002.
 
“Due to advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the United States has become the number-one producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and the market has increasingly adopted natural gas for electricity generation,” Finkel said. “As a result, we are also the world leader in reducing carbon emissions, which are near 20-year lows. This is a win-win thanks in large part to American innovation and free markets.”