Pennsylvania accounted for one-quarter of the growth in highly efficient, clean natural gas power generation last year, according to new federal data released this morning. In fact, more than 60 percent of the electric generating capacity installed in the U.S. in 2018 was fueled by clean, domestic natural gas.
Specifically, facilities like Tenaska’s Westmoreland Generating Station or Invenergy’s Lackawanna Energy Center have come online recently, with both plants using locally sourced natural gas to generate reliable, around-the-clock affordable energy for more than 2 million homes. In Pennsylvania, there are 19 natural gas power generation projects in development, under construction or recently brought online totaling over 16,700 MW of generating capacity and $12.6 billion of private capital investment into the state.
Nationally, the federal government’s long-term projections indicate that most of the U.S. electricity capacity additions through 2050 will be natural gas combined-cycle or solar facilities.
As domestically produced natural gas generates an increasingly larger share of power generation, consumers are realizing meaningful energy savings and Pennsylvania is making historic air quality progress. According to MSC analysis of state data, consumers are realizing $1,100 – $2,200 on average annually in home energy savings. And harmful air pollutants, like SOx and NOx have plummeted dramatically as clean natural gas is increasingly used to generate electricity.
