Coronavirus Chaos Continues

7.9 percent! Really? That surely is a large drop.

7.9 percent is how much lower this September’s kilowatt-hour sales of electricity in the continental U.S. were, as compared with sales of electricity in September of 2019. Coronavirus chaos continues.

And, the number of kilowatt-hours generated by coal plants fell by as much as 19.7 percent, in September, year-over-year. That drove down coal’s market share – of all electric generation – to 21.1 percent.

As a result, Database Utilities Fortnightly estimates that the continental U.S. grid’s carbon dioxide emissions were about 14.5 percent lower in September 2020 relative to September 2019. And, that the grid’s carbon intensity decreased from 0.91 pounds of the greenhouse gas per kilowatt-hour to 0.85 pounds.