Challenges to add renewables to the mix of power supply add to issues that will keep natural gas generation growing and an important part of the energy stack in 2024.

“Coal and natural gas remain important to the U.S. electric grid, even as variable renewable resources such as solar and wind grow,” U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Administrator Joe DeCarolis said in the agency’s January Short-Term Energy Outlook.

According to EIA, overall demand for natural gas increased by 3% in 2023 compared with 2022. While residential and commercial sector consumption faltered, LNG and Mexico gas pipeline exports, as well as an uptick in electricity generation use, supported the uptick.

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