Last year, US natural gas consumption broke records amid bitter cold. (EIA)
By the numbers: The US burned through a record 92 Bcf/d on average last year, up 2% from 2024. That’s mostly thanks to a brutal winter: January hit an all-time monthly high of 126.6 Bcf/d.
The twist: Electric power demand for natural gas actually fell 1 Bcf/d year-over-year, to 35.8 Bcf/d. A milder summer played a role, but so did solar + battery additions muscling gas off the dispatch stack for more of the day.
Speaking of storms: In a Tuesday hearing on Winter Storm Fern, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) recently said emergency orders and must-run directives helped keep the lights on—but they're not a sustainable strategy amid growing load. The real issue? Permitting bottlenecks.