California’s use of natural gas during the winter months doesn’t experience quite the dramatic ramp-up it does during the summer, but it experiences multiple peaks and valleys as it balances changes in electricity demand, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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EIA said natural gas use during the winter goes through two cycles each day — ramping up and down in the morning and then again in the evening. California’s hourly natural gas-fired electricity generation in January and February 2020 was often at its lowest point in the middle of the day, the agency said, when solar-powered generation was at its peak.

In California wholesale electricity markets, natural gas-fired electricity generation helps to balance fluctuations in electricity demand...