The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that natural gas will remain the largest source of power generation throughout the United States for at least the next two years. Its share is expected to reach 33% of the total US power generation figures in 2018 and 34% in 2019, up from 32% in 2017. In the mean time, the share of coal is expected to decline from 30% in 2017 to 30% in 2018 and 28% in 2019.
The main driver behind the trend is the expected addition of 20 GW of gas-fired capacity in 2018, the largest increase since 2004. 6 GW are being built in Pennsylvania in the neighbourhood of the Marcellus and Utica shale plays while 2 GW will be built in Texas. On the other hand, 13 GW of coal-fired capacity will be retired in 2018 only. Where (non-hydropower) renewables are concerned, the US EIA expects their share to exceed 10% of the US power mix as soon as 2019.