Natural Gas demand for power generation

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Study: Replacing coal plants with natural gas cut pollution, saved lives . State Impact Pennsylvania .

A new study found closing hundreds of coal fired power plants and replacing them with natural gas plants saved thousands of lives around the country. Jen Burney, an environmental engineer at the University of California, San Diego, analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with air pollution data in counties where power plants either closed down or opened up between 2005 and 2016. Over that time period, more than 300 coal-fired generating units at 138 plants were taken down. These were replaced largely by more than 600 natural-gas-fired units put online.

The largest increase in demand for natural gas in 2020 will be from increased exports (LNG and pipelines to Mexico). We will see a slower but steady increase in demand for power generation. In addition to replacing coal fired power plants, wind and solar also required gas fired plants as backups when the wind isn't blowing or skies are cloudy.