Why isn more gas used today for electricity generation?
A. Reasons include: • Fall-out from the Fuel Use Act remains. Some utilities are saddled with non-gas plants they were forced to build during the time the Fuel Use Act was in effect–a time when natural gas was incorrectly believed to be scarce and when prices were incorrectly believed to be likely to rise to high levels. Today, gas is widely accepted as a reliable resource. However, today’s utility executives must in many cases live with the consequences of the long-lived capital investments made in previous eras. • A number of federal environmental laws favor coal-burning at utilities and penalize gas users. • Fall-out also remains from the time when federal regulators established wellhead prices that were higher than the market could bear. Some utility executives continue to believe that gas prices are “volatile,” despite contracting practices that today promise gas deliveries at steady rates backed by established financial instruments and the strong reputations of natural gas compa
