US produced more energy than it consumed in 2019

The United States produced more energy than it consumed in 2019, according to recently released data showing that U.S total energy production exceeded consumption for the first time since 1957. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2019 the U.S. produced 101.0 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) of energy, while it consumed 100.2 quads of energy.

Continued growth in energy production (a 5.7% increase over 2018's record high) and a slight decrease in energy consumption (0.9%) partly explain the result. EIA data shows that U.S. domestic energy production has grown substantially since 2010, a trend EIA attributes largely to "increases in crude oil and natural gas production from hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling." The energy production balance also includes record high subcomponent levels of specific energy commodities, including crude oil and natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) (31.8 quads) and natural gas production (34.9 quads). It also occurs despite a continued decrease in U.S. coal production, which fell to its lowest level since 1974 (14.3 quads). Nuclear electric power production remains relatively unchanged (8 quads).

EIA data also shows that U.S. energy consumption has ranged between 96 quads and 102 quads since 2000. Petroleum continues to account for the largest share of U.S. energy consumption, as it has every year since 1950, despite a decrease of nearly 9% from its 2005 peak in 2005. U.S. coal consumption has decreased nearly 50% since 2008, "primarily because coal has been displaced by natural gas and renewables in the electricity sector" according to EIA. At the same time renewable energy consumption in the United States, including renewable-powered electricity generation, biofuels, and biomass, grew 88% during the same period, reaching nearly the same share of consumption as coal in 2019

FERC carbon pricing conference request

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a public notice that it has received a petition requesting that the Commission hold a technical conference or workshop to discuss integrating state, regional, and national carbon pricing in FERC-jurisdictional organized regional wholesale electric energy markets.

On April 13, 2020, a coalition composed of Advanced Energy Economy, the American Council on Renewable Energy, the American Wind Energy Association, Brookfield Renewable, Calpine Corporation, Competitive Power Ventures, Inc., the Electric Power Supply Association, the Independent Power Producers of New York, Inc., LS Power Associates, L.P., the Natural Gas Supply Association, NextEra Energy, Inc., PJM Power Providers Group, R Street Institute, and Vistra Energy Corp. filed a petition asking the Commission to hold a technical conference or workshop on the intersection of carbon pricing and FERC-jurisdictional wholesale markets.

In the petition, the coalition of "Interested Parties" asked the Commission "to gather a wide range of stakeholders to discuss practical technical and implementation issues that are raised if states or other entities propose to adopt carbon pricing policies in regions with organized wholesale electric energy markets." The Interested Parties clarify that they are not asking the Commission to issue a rule nor to direct implementation of a carbon pricing mechanism, but rather to convene stakeholders for dialogue. The petition cites a 2017 technical conference held by the Commission on carbon pricing issues, and subsequent statements or action by regional transmission organizations including ISO-NE, PJM, NYISO, and CAISO.

The Commission has docketed the proceeding as AD20-14.

FERC responds to COVID-19 pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. energy regulators have adopted a variety of measures, including designating a single point point of contact for all industry inquiries related to impacts of the Novel Coronavirus on their activities jurisdictional to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, issuing a Policy Statement providing regulatory guidance on energy infrastructure, market, reliability and security matters, and providing other regulatory relief.

On March 19, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission named Caroline Wozniak to lead a team of 14 technical staff from the Commission’s 12 program offices, as the Commission’s point of contact for all industry inquiries related to impacts of their COVID-19 preparations and responses on their FERC-jurisdictional activities.

On April 2, 2020, the Commission issued a Policy Statement providing regulatory guidance on energy infrastructure, market, reliability and security matters. Through the Policy Statement, the Commission noted that Commission-regulated entities have taken actions in response to the national emergency conditions that may disrupt, complicate, or otherwise change their normal course of business operations, which "may create questions about entities’ ability to meet regulatory requirements and/or recover the costs necessary to take steps to safeguard the business continuity of their systems." The Policy Statement emphasizes that the Commission will prioritize its processing of filings made for the purpose of assuring the reliable operation of energy infrastructure during this emergency, including requests for relief such as "cost recovery necessary to assure business continuity of the regulated entities’ energy infrastructure in response to the national emergency."

Separately, Commission Chair Neil Chatterjee issued a statement describing the Commission's efforts to help regulated entities manage their potential enforcement and compliance-related burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Announcing "that the Commission will exercise appropriate prosecutorial discretion in addressing events that arise during the emergency period", he noted that enforcement staff will take the current emergency into account when evaluating compliance programs, as part of an audit for operations taking place during the emergency, and in assessing the timeliness of self-reports.